A Romantic kind of Mystery
by x-archsage96-x
Summary: Naruto has feelings for Kiba, his best friend, which was a secret between him and Kyuubi. But after Kiba paid him a surprise visit, Naruto had begun to gather the courage to tell Kiba how he feels; will the courage last? And will he get the chance to? With someone pulling the strings behind the scene, it could be difficult! Lemon & Lime Yaoi, other supporting characters & pairings.
1. Chapter 1: Hinata Syndrome

**A/N: Hey guys, this is my first story so it won't exactly be perfect! i'd love to have reviews as long as it's constructive, so e****njoy ^_^**

It was a normal day in Konoha, The village hidden in the leaves: a few months after the invasion of Pain and the reconstruction was surprisingly almost finished, namely due to the massive effort of the population wishing to return to normality once again. The people were often friendly, kind and very much proud of living in the prestigious village while always showing solidarity through the hardest of times.

The layout of the village remained largely the same except that the Hokage tower was central to the village, compared to its previous spot at being near the Hokage mountain. A large apartment complex located in the center of the village is where our budding Ninja resides, and who is that you ask?

Naruto Uzumaki: "The Number One Hyperactive Knucklehead Ninja "of Konoha - or better known as the "Hero of Konoha" - wearily gazed out his grimy window to the picturesque view of his Village. He just willed himself to wake up; it was 11.a.m, which was very responsible for him considering it was Sunday.

The village truly was the best of community life, with buzzing streets, markets and businesses flourishing; Shinobi making up a large proportion of the population. He saw the new Hokage tower full with visitors and shinobi alike, admiring it's beauty as a Village landmark. Overall, there was much for the eye to see in this newly Iconic Village.

But there was one Shinobi in particular that caught Naruto's scrutinizing eye:

Kiba Inuzuka.

He was often referred to as "dog-boy" or "dog breathe" jokingly, but his chocolate brown hair, well-toned body and handsomely toothy grin could certainly elicit far more complementary nicknames.

At least that's what Naruto thought.

Naruto had previously been in denial to whether or not he had emotional feelings of any kind for Kiba, as he had always thought Sakura was the 'Apple of his eye'. Yet after spending more time with the dog-nin after the Invasion of Pain, he had come to realize that he had far more in common with him then the pink haired medical nin did, such as their ideals, morals and sense of humor, especially when it comes to pranks. Kiba had become his best friend over the last few months, actively supporting and encouraging Naruto's dream of becoming Hokage through mutual training and many words of encouragement, which Naruto would never take for granted. Naruto starting becoming attached to the other boy, secretly wanting more from him then their friendship already offered.

The blonde, however, had many trust issues with other people. He knew full well that if someone discovered the truth of the demon residing inside him they would probably brand him as a demon himself.

Kyuubi was in fact a surprisingly compassionate being - contrary to what most people assume - as she has always treated Naruto like her kit since she was first sealed within him. This led to a mother-son kind of bond between them both, giving Naruto the proper mental and emotional upbringing needed to cope in the harsh Shinobi world.

But when concerning other types of relationships, Naruto didn't categorized himself as Gay, Straight or any other sexuality as he rarely had any true sexual urges for other people. Yes, he used to be madly infatuated with Sakura in the academy days, but he never had many explicit thoughts about the teammate.

Naruto returned to reality from his reflective thoughts, as he watched Kiba stroll across the street walking towards his apartment complex.

"He's probably going to the market just under the complex…" Naruto sighed, repelling any thoughts of Kiba visiting him in case it was all just false hope.

Naruto got up unenthusiastically from his double-bed and walked to his bathroom, ready to wash away the grime and bodily fluids that plagued his otherwise striking body. He arrived in the small bathroom and took a look at his mirror.

He had golden hair (messy almost like Kiba's), toned, well defined torso & abs, with a slight tan that didn't clash with his Azure, Cerulean eyes and shining hair like the sun itself: his body was arguably perfection personified, definitely on par with Kiba. He did however suffer from mild acne from time to time, like many other teens his age. He looked pretty clear today however, so he jumped in the shower and got on with cleaning.

After Naruto had finished his bathroom ritual he wandered into the Kitchen and took a look in his cupboards to see what he can devour. Naruto didn't get much Ryo for his missions so he had a minimal supply of food, except for his bountiful supply of Ramen however.

"Ramen!" he beamed, realizing that he had a whole stash of the stuff.

He reached for an instant ramen pot at the top of his cupboard with ease, as contrary to what most of his peers think, he is most certainly not small. He flipped the Kettle on and jumped on his sofa humming and singing to himself to help pass the time. He thought about how the day was going to play out, which wasn't too spectacular in his mind as it was just lazing about his home and maybe getting some training at best. It was Sunday however, so 'he did have a good excuse' according to Kyuubi.

*Click* The kettle finished boiling the water, causing Naruto to shoot up from his sofa to the kitchen as fast as lightning, in seconds already pouring the water into the holy instant ramen pot. He waited another few minutes for it to cook.

It was finally done, the savory smell of Miso and pork pleasured his nose, "Come here baby" he whispered, trying to seduce the beautiful meal. As he lifted the bowl of Ramen and salivated in anticipation of eating the entire bowl-

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

- Naruto dropped the bowl in fright as the last thing he expected was someone knocking at his door while he was about to consume his god-like breakfast.

Naruto was very pissed off at this rude awakening, largely because it cost him his beautiful Ramen!

He stormed over to the door, opening it with enough force to put Tsunade to shame: "Now who the HELL do you think you are causing me to drop my…?!" He screamed, but his eyes were no longer consumed with the raging flames of hell, but surprise after he took in who his visitor was: Kiba.

"Oh, hi there Kiba… w-what brings you here?" He said apprehensively, completely forgetting the now cold, abandoned Ramen on his floor that caused his previous outrage.

"Hey Naruto, I was just wondering if you wanted to train for a bit?" Kiba said with the up most self-assurance, which was unusual considering Naruto's former outburst which would have startled most other people who disturbed him.

"Yeah that'd be great! I need to get changed though so I'll meet you at the grounds in an hour or so?" the blonde said excitedly, yet again a different persona to before, causing Kyuubi to call him "Bipolar" and "like the pink banshee", blatantly referring to Sakura.

"Sure thing, I'll see you there then!" Kiba winked goodbye then dashed off, leaving a very flustered and blushing Naruto left standing at his door feeling ready to faint.

'Damn, I'm starting to turn into Hinata!' horror took hold of him, as although he found her to be a great friend and companion, she did NOT have the most desirable of social skills.

Naruto hastily gathered his training gear and got dressed within record time, which was not surprising considering it was Kiba who he was about to train with. After a lot of running between bathroom to bedroom, back to the bathroom and so on, he finally deemed himself acceptable for the outside world to see. Wearing his normal Orange and black outfit as he weren't going to dilly-dally over his clothes when he was trying to rush out of the door. He did however take the time to put on his new Amulet given to him by Tsunade, completing his outfit.

"Kami, Kami, Kami! How am I going to spar with Kiba if I can't even talk to him for 5 minutes?!" Naruto cried, hoping to find some way of overcoming his new Hinata-like illness of melting into a puddle of goo every time he is within a 10 meter radius of Kiba.

"You've got to snap outta this Kit, you was fine with him recently before you started over-thinking! it's really starting to get me wondering if you've spent too much time with that Hyuga girl!**"** Kyuubi said with disdain, as the one thing she disliked the most was "fainter's" and Naruto was fast becoming one at this rate.

"But how Kyuubi? I'm starting to turn into jelly whenever I see him as I worry that I'll say something stupid and turn him away..."

"What?! You're a loud-mouthed annoying brat so he obviously must like you for it, so don't go the other way or THAT will turn him away, baka!"

Naruto blocked Kyuubi from his mind as he thought he heard enough, much to the annoyance of the fox, as he didn't need the added pressure.

Naruto left the complex and made his way across the street while taking his time as he rushed too fast, forgetting he said he would be an hour or so. It was a cloudy day in Konoha, something which wasn't very common as it was usually brilliantly sunny. He took this extra time in trying to think out his approach to Kiba when he meets him at the training grounds. He even wondered whether or not to try treading the waters with Kiba's touch barrier, such as through "accidental" touches in inappropriate places during the sparring, which was obviously very risky as Kiba could react aggressively. Or he could just straight up tell Kiba, but while trying to fend off the infectious influence of Hinata at the same time - looking entirely unlikely at this point.

He continued to think deeply when he finally saw the training grounds: A large, open expanse of greenery, waterfalls and prairies that seemed to stretch to as far as the eye can see. 'What a perfect place to be Romantic' he thought, so Naruto concluded that it would be both morally and practically best if he told Kiba the truth of his feelings after the friendly spar, as secretly molesting him wouldn't be a very good idea at all.

Naruto chose to sit by an old oak tree waiting for the Dog-nin. The oak tree was symbolic for great vitality and life, which Naruto didn't take for granted in the cruel world of the Ninja. But his deep thought changed to thinking about Kiba, as he was excited yet definitely nervous as he pondered over the consequences of revealing his relatively new feelings of said dog-boy.

"I can't handle anymore rejection, especially by those who I hold dearest to me…" Naruto thought apprehensively, deciding on whether revealing his feelings was really such a good idea after all. He as always known as being headstrong, but he was far more reflective and cautious then most would think.

Just as Naruto was deliberating on the counter argument, he saw a figure appear over the hills nearest to the village: it was tall, striking and looked handsome even from afar, '" That must be Kiba then".

He felt a cold wind nip at his skin from behind, along with some metal clanking that sounded like ninja tools, 'Probably other nin training' he thought, not letting others ruin his moment with Kiba by putting it to the back of his head.

Naruto stood up and put on his image of the overly optimistic and hyperactive Ninja he was always seen to be, as he didn't want to arouse any suspicion or questions from Kiba at the start.

"Kiba! Over here!" he yelled, beckoning Kiba to his location.

Kiba jogged over to Naruto, wearing shorts that looked incredibly thin and light, high-top black shoes and a vest-top that hugged his defined body, something which unsurprisingly made Naruto's job a lot harder, along with something else... his eyes also looked slightly green, which Naruto never noticed before.

"Ready for some training then Naruto? I've been developing a new technique, and I was wondering if you'd help me refine it since you're a sage and all!" Kiba said with a toothy grin, which made Naruto blush madly due to both his admiration and charming looks.

"D-definitely! But it would be best if you c-could demonstrate it to me in a spar, do you agree?." Naruto said, becoming more confident the more he spoke due to him repeating in his mind 'Compose, compose, compose!' as a mantra to help him get over 'Hinata Syndrome' as Kyuubi so kindly called it.

"Hell yeah! Get ready Naruto, It's going to hurt!" Kiba said with a mischievous grin, all the more presenting a dilemma to Naruto's focus.

"Heh, don't get too cocky dog-breathe!" Naruto thundered in his usual headstrong tone, while inner Naruto was amused to himself when actually wishing the Inuzuka would indeed get "Cocky".

They both took up their fighting stances; the spar had begun!

**A/N:hope you guys enjoyed it and Review as i'm open to any critique and would appreciate it! My next chapter should up shortly, have a great day! **


	2. Chapter 2: A Surprising Revelation!

**A/N: I hope you enjoy this chapter. In case you're wondering why I changed the name of the story is because i'm changing the overall plot and direction of the narrative and intending it to be longer then previously anticipated! Anyways, enjoy :)**

The spar had begun.

The wind was blowing eerily towards both Kiba and Naruto's direction, causing both to shiver. It was unusual for this kind of weather in Konoha, but 'It can't be perfect everyday' the blonde thought. He steadied himself and got into position to launch an offensive against the dog boy. He didn't want to hurt him, but just to ruffle his feathers by showing his superior strength as a sage.

Naruto charged, speeding towards Kiba while launching multiple Shuriken in a bid to overwhelm the dog-nin. He didn't want to hurt Kiba substantially, so he forbid himself from using The Rasengan.

"Hah! Try dodging that!" the blonde said confidently, believing his high speed and accuracy would be sure to put an end to this spar within record time.

Kiba dodged the Shuriken with supernatural ease, to the surprise of Naruto who thought that his incredible training regime had made him long surpass the dog-nin.

But there was one thing he forgot: Kiba was often known as one of the fastest of the Rookie 9 and his next move seemed to prove that with deadly accuracy, and to the shock of Naruto - Secret Inuzuka Style: Shredding Fang over Fang.

This was an advanced technique only recently taught to Kiba by his mother, Tsume; It creates a powerful vortex that shreds the target literally to pieces in most cases. It is rarely used by the Inuzuka Clan due to it's S-Class rating which only makes it viable typically as a weapon of war or death. This technique is definitely not fit for simple sparring, which shocked Naruto and Kyuubi.

The fact that he used it on Naruto in a spar not only shocked the Cerulean eyed teen, but also hurt him emotionally too as the last thing he expected was for Kiba, his best friend and crush, to go on a full-frontal assault as after all this was supposed to be just a friendly spar. This definitely crossed the lines by a mile in Naruto and Kyuubi's books.

Naruto just managed to evade the deadly Vortex without sustaining any real damage, but Naruto certainly weren't happy with it's use, so he planned on letting Kiba know that.

Throwing his previous plans of charming the Inuzuka to the wind, Naruto bellowed to Kiba "Why the hell did you use that on me?! You could of killed me!" trying to deeply guilt-trip the offending teen, but to no avail.

"You got what you deserved, always thinking your so high and mighty! You need a reality check to realize that your not as strong and powerful as you think you are! You think you can get who you want when you want but that's about to change!" Kiba shouted, however sounding very much out of character as Kyuubi's noticed.

'Who you want... when you want?' the blonde thought, confused to why Kiba would say such a thing.

"Hmm he's not normally this much of an aggressive asshole, and that's saying something! Be careful Kit, something doesn't feel right here" Kyuubi notified with a feeling of uneasiness.

Naruto took notice of Kyuubi's concern, as after all this primordial demon knew more about differing types of aggression than he did.

Naruto decided it best to continue on with the spar instead of getting into a blazing argument, as that would obviously hurt his chances of telling Kiba what he really thinks about him, which in Naruto's mind was more important then him trying to regain his pride to a petty accusation.

Naruto created a shadow clone and launched it through the air much like a human missile, with it's intended target the ground before Kiba's feet, surprising the dog-boy.

Little did Kiba know was that Naruto had in fact infused the clone with Kyubbi's chakra; it could sense malice, signs of manipulation and ill-will within the impact radius. So although Kiba snickered at the apparent failure of the clones supposed inaccuracy, he was being scanned and analysed all along.

Naruto and Kyuubi done this to try and figure out the cause of Kiba's aggression, but they were very disturbed with what they found out.

Naruto's eyes opened in shock as he realized that Kiba was in fact -

"TIME TO PAY!" Kiba roared with his claws showing, only meters away from shredding the blonde into ribbons...

"RELEASE!" Naruto shouted at the attacking dog-boy, completely shattering the malicious intent and manipulation that controlled Kiba, with a controlled burst of chakra directed at his chakra network.

Kiba dropped to the ground and began to look faint, probably due to his bodies shock of returning to normality once again. Naruto knelt down beside the bewildered dog-nin, supplying some of Kyuubi's chakra to help him regain full consciousness.

"Kiba, are you alright?" Naruto worriedly said, hoping the Jutsu he was under didn't have any dire side effects.

"I'm, i'm fine... W-what happened?" Kiba said wearily, almost like he was awoken from a deep slumber.

Naruto didn't know to answer this question, as he didn't really know what was going on in the first place... He didn't want to shock Kiba or start a game of 20 questions as he was in the dark too, so he did however manage to say in a soothing tone "We'll talk about this later but for now you need some rest, lets bring you back home".

Naruto picked up Kiba gently after the dog-nin gave a nod of understanding and carried him bridal-style over the village rooftops, towards the Inuzuka estate. Luckily he had composed himself enough to do such an act.

Kiba had passed out during the travel but that gave Naruto the time to really appreciate the fact that he was holding his crush. This caused his serious attitude to self-annihilate as he almost screamed like a fan-girl at the realization of this. Kyuubi managed to 'talk some sense' back into Naruto largely with insults and "tough love" as she liked to call it, which was often beating the crap outta Inner Naruto.

"Kit, what are we going to do with this?" referring to the situation that just occurred. Kyuubi may be a primeval demon, but she certainly didn't know everything about the always changing Ninja world.

"Kyu, I really don't have a clue... who in hell would want to control Kiba and try and get him to kill me?!" Inner Naruto exclaimed, shocked at the thought of maybe having to fight the dog-boy against his will in the future.

"I could only decode two things from that chakra during the fight, and that is the user of the controlling Jutsu was quite good at Genjutsu, or at least had some proficiency and training with it! And it's obvious to say that there was malicious intent, after all he did try to kill you!" Kyuubi said with confidence, as she knew chakra almost like the back of her furry paw.

"But surely you could link it to a certain shinobi then?"

"No kit, I can tell you the chakra nature and emotions held within it, but I'm not a machine made to print out entire chakra signatures!" The fox said with slight frustration, as she sometimes wondered if Naruto thought she was the font of all knowledge.

"Grr! How can we be left in the dark with this? I can't afford to lose Kiba to some malicious asshole hell bent on getting either one of us killed!" he cried in anger.

"Wait, did you say you can sense emotions within it?" he added, breaking through his anguish with the slightest glimmer of hope.

"I've already told you kit, I sensed malicious intent within the Jutsu." she barked, annoyed with having to repeat herself.

"But it's impossible to have only one emotion at once! There must be something else we can go on Kyu, try analyzing it again!" Naruto begged - hoping to find another lead in this mystery.

"Ughh fine! God Kit you ask too much of me sometimes!" Kyuubi growled, but also secretly being flattered at the same time due to Naruto trusting her judgment so much.

Kyuubi was in the midst of investigating the chakra that still eerily flowed from Kiba's body as he had only recently been released from it's control, so traces were luckily still there.

Naruto had just arrived at the Inuzuka compound, and it was 1pm, so he could put Kiba in his bed and that would give him the excuse of pretending to have been napping maybe. Naruto grinned like a mad-fox to himself, utterly impressed by his new-found investigatory skills from figuring out chakra clues to setting up good excuses for the incapacitated dog-nin.

But the blondes happy and proud moment was put to an abrupt halt, as Kyuubi practically body slammed inner Naruto for "taking all the credit".

Naruto jumped up a tree and leaped across to reach Kiba's bedroom window, which he knew of due to him having stayed over multiple times when he was at the academy.

He quietly slid the window open, thanking Kami that It was not a small Window, as that would of made his job far harder. Especially if he had to go through the main entrance with Kiba's raging mother, Tsume, confronting him holding her knocked out son; capable of scaring even Kyuubi!

But Naruto shook the nightmarish thoughts from his mind and jumped through the window, starting to gingerly creep through Kiba's room towards his double-bed while also taking in the intoxicating aroma of Kiba - struggling not to faint.

Kiba's room was clearly his natural habitat: full of dog-related stuff and trinkets including a doggy bean bag, puppy duvet-set and even a toy plush puppy that sat on his pillow, which looked surprisingly like Akamaru!

'Oh crap, Akamaru!.' Naruto thought as speaking of the devil, Akamaru was sleeping by the foot of the bed.

Naruto had no problems with Akamaru, but the fact that he is holding the dogs weakened master and crept through the window could quite easily cause Akamaru to bark at the offending intruder - invoking the wrath of Tsume herself.

Naruto and Kyuubi both shuddered again, but had to keep on otherwise Akamaru would wake up eventually while they were still there.

Naruto cautiously tip-toed to the left-side of the bed and placed Kiba down on the bed and pulled the duvet over him, to make it look as natural as possible. He certainly weren't going to undress him and put him in pajama's or anything like that, as the hemorrhage from Naruto's nosebleed would be sure to wake Akamaru.

Naruto began to creep away from the bed towards the window. 'It's going great' he thought.

*OINK*

Naruto stared in horror as he lifted his foot, as he saw that he had stood on one of Akamaru's squeaky toys, which was similar to Shizune's pet pig, Tonton.

Naruto's gaze shot over to Akamaru and he saw that the white beast was beginning to arise from it's daytime nap.

"OH CRAP, RUN!" Inner and, accidentally, Outta Naruto screamed as he jumped through the window, hearing Akamaru barking madly after him.

But during his mad escape his new Amulet managed to fall off in Kiba's room, remaining on Kiba's puppy-themed bean bag.

-Huff, Huff, Huff-

Naruto breathed heavily as he was finally back in the town center, out of breathe from his fast escape from the Inuzuka compound.

"Geese, that was close Kyu!" Naruto said with the up most gratification that he got away.

"Naruto you Idiot! Next time look before you tread as you could of got us killed and maimed by Tsume!" Kyuubi said, very pissed off.

"All that matters is we got away!" The blonde happily chirped, infecting Kyuubi with it and replacing her frustration with her Kits positive energy.

"But anyways, what other emotions did you get from the Chakra?" Naruto said with anticipation, hoping to get out of the dark on the mystery of Kiba and his controller.

"Kit, It was Jealousy."

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it! Reviews are nice, I should have another chapter up soon! Till next time ^_^ P.S. This IS a mystery story, so read into the deeper meaning if you want clues!**


	3. Chapter 3: Compose & Control

**A/N: This is my longest chapter yet! I hope you guys enjoy it :)**

**Kiba's P.O.V**

* * *

_'I... can't see anything, It's so dark. Where am I?'_

_'Akamaru?' The lone boy shouted, looking for his companion in the dark abyss he is lost in._

_'Mom? Sis?' He still cried, yet again no response was given..._

_'Anybody?!' _

_The Darkness began to recede_

_Light filled the empty void that he was lost in, sheltering him in it's Soothing energy._

_He thought he saw the brilliant Sun, his savior in his greatest hour of need._

_He was half-right. He saw a beautifully divine figure gracefully walk towards the frightened dog-nin._

_He was shining like the Sun indeed, but his Cerulean Eyes and brilliant smile was also worth notice._

_It was... Naruto?_

_He stared in awe at the divine Naruto, wondering why he of all people managed to save him _

_But when Naruto embraced Kiba, holding him and warming his body and soul alike_

_Kiba felt a buzzing feeling in his stomach, something... different._

* * *

Kiba began to arise from his strange yet deep nap, trying to make sense of what it was about. Something was up, and Kiba was sure of it. "W-Why was I in a dark world? And Why was it Naruto who rescued me from it..." He said to himself, trying to fit the pieces behind this perplexing dream he just woke up from.

He laid there on his bed for around an hour trying to figure out which caused such a mysterious dream… he decided it best to recall the previous day's events to try and see if anything caused it.

And that's when it hit him.

The previous day: he remembered waking up normally, eating breakfast and getting dressed as he would do any other morning, no different than before. It was a slightly cloudy day, but nothing out of the ordinary. He traveled to the Hokage tower to see if he could request a mission from Tsunade, on his way he saw Team Guy with Lee, Neji and Tenten and spoke with them for 10 minutes or so. Neji spoke about his new Jutsu he was learning, along with Tenten who also slightly spoke of hers, but he didn't pay much attention.

He then remembers nothing. Black. Not until he is on his knees being supported by Naruto at the training grounds!

"What the hell happened?!" he shouted, completely confused with what happened that caused his memory to lapse.

Akamaru came bowling though the bedroom door, alerted by his masters shout.

"Arf, Arf! – What are you shouting about?" Akamaru barked, worried at his master's actions. "Nothing boy, just woke up from a nightmare, that's all…" which was partially true; except he didn't want to tell his beloved companion anything until he was sure himself.

"Arf…- I don't think I believe you..." The dog barked, wanting to get some answers.

"Whatever, now leave me for a sec I need to be alone for a while..."

The dog simply huffed and walked out the door, leaving his master be.

It was unusual for Kiba to send his dog away from him, but right now he didn't need the added distraction.

Kiba deliberated on what to do, as he needed to figure out what caused such a big gap in his memory. "It must be something major if the last thing I remembered was being kneeling on grass before being incapacitated in a completely different place…"

'Wait, Naruto was there..."

He came up with a conclusion that didn't need much deliberating; It also partially explains his dream why Naruto saved him:

"I need to find Naruto."

* * *

**Naruto's P.O.V**

Naruto was sitting at his favorite ramen bar, Ichiraku's, with Sakura and Sai. They were indulging in general conversation, making the most of their little reunion. Sakura opted for a Chicken & Egg ramen, Sai had decided to bring his own food: Tofu, and of course Naruto was enjoying 2 extra pork miso ramen bowls. It was a relaxing atmosphere with 3 teammates just enjoying a break, but you can always count on Naruto to spice things up.

He was wondering with Kyuubi if it would be best to tell Sakura and Sai of what happened earlier that day.

'Kyu'

'Yeah kit?'

'Should I tell these guys? I mean I don't know if I should or not' he inwardly admitted, worried that telling them could manage to make things worse.

"We need all the help we can get Kit, Sakura could research into any cases of possessed individuals while Sai could go to The Foundation and access a whole bank of knowledge there! " Kyuubi said with almost certainty. Naruto smiled to himself 'Your right, I can trust them to help!' his smile turned into a grin, gaining a few weird looks from his team.

Sakura was slightly taken back by Naruto's neurotic grinning "Are you OK Naruto?"

"Well, kind of..." he said, trying to lure his team into helping him.

"What's wrong old chum?" Sai said with his awful social skills rearing it's ugly head, literally with his cringe-worthy smile.

"Sakura, Sai, I need you guys to help me with something, and it's important" he said with a hint desperation.

"I knew you were bothered about something, whats up?" the pinkette asked.

Naruto got ready to do a whole lot of explaining to his team "OK, listen to me carefully cause I'm NOT repeating the whole story!" ...

Naruto told them about Kiba's apparent possession and the nature of the chakra, much to the surprise and shock of his teammates, particularly Sakura, as Sai didn't quite know how to react. They were both happy that Naruto told them though as the blonde's trust issues usually stopped anything like this happening.

"God Naruto... thank Kami you had Kyuubi to tell you of his possession or you wouldn't have released him from the Jutsu in time! Sakura exclaimed, thankful to Kyuubi in helping Naruto stop the controlled Kiba

"HEY! I'm the great Naruto Uzumaki! I knew he was possessed from the start!" he pouted, lying so he could try and retain his pride.

'WHAT?!' Kyuubi erupted with huge amounts of chakra, causing Naruto to almost scream with fright.

"You little bastard TELL THEM THE TRUTH!" she roared, raging that she can't tell them the truth herself due to her being bound in the blonde boy.

"OK OK She helped!" the blonde cried out, trying to appease the pissed off mega-fox

All Sakura and Sai saw was his face turn from proud to terrified in a matter of seconds, giving them the impression that Kyuubi wasn't happy.

"Well... I'll leave you to have a deep talk with Kyuubi then Naruto, I'll stop by the Hospital tomorrow to check the files as I got a mission tonight so I'll see you guys later!" Sakura said while waving goodbye to Naruto and Sai.

"Well I really do hope you and Kyuubi have a profound, meaningful conversation then Naruto my loving companion!" Sai said with the sickly sweet smile, while mistakenly overdoing the complements as always. "I'll go to the ANBU Research Center right away, I'll find you if I get anything on mind-controlling Genjutsu's! Good bye Naru!" Sai said, adorning Naruto with a pet name, much to the blondes discomfort.

"Yeah yeah see ya Sai" he said, while trying to fight back a cringe-attack after hearing the work "Naru" assault his mind.

Naruto had just ordered another bowl of Ramen so he could try and fill his bottomless pit of a stomach while trying to find leads on who controlled Kiba by himself. Kyuubi kept butting it but Naruto told her to let him have some "quality time", causing Kyuubi to have her own quality time of slagging her Jinchuuriki off.

Another person entered the Ramen bar and sat down next to Naruto, but wasn't noticed by the blonde as he was in "deep thinking" as he liked to call it, which Kyuubi would say is the equal to someone daydreaming in comparison.

It takes a lot to normally break Naruto out of this "deep thinking" mode, but certain circumstances can cause it to happen at lot faster than usual. A hand touched Naruto's shoulder and he still didn't respond but once he heard the gruff voice of a handsome comrade, he was responding like a remote control.

"Naruto, tell me what happened."

Naruto's eyes shot open and he turned towards Kiba, who looked tired and disturbed to say the least.

"K-kiba? What are you doing here?" The blonde allowed Kyuubi back into his conscience so she could snap him out of 'Hinata Syndrome' if needed.

"I need you to help give me answers Naruto, what the hell happened earlier?" The brunette was clearly desperate for Naruto to enlighten him of current circumstances.

'Kyu, should I tell him everything now?!' Naruto inwardly screamed, as he didn't know if telling Kiba he was possessed and could still be at risk of it again would do much to comfort the dog-boy.

"Go for it Kit, he'll find out sooner or later and the sooner we can find a way to protect him from any more possessions the better!" The fox actively encouraged the confused blonde on the best course of action.

Naruto took a deep breath and tried to compose himself. Kiba took note of the blondes body language and he instantly had negative thoughts entering and plaguing his mind from then on, 'at least I'm prepared for the worse' the brunette thought, trying to comfort himself.

"I... don't quite now how to say this Kiba but." he paused again, preparing himself "You where possessed... and almost killed me." Naruto looked Kiba in the eyes to try and get the whole message across, that this was deadly serious and had to be dealt with.

"W-wait.. what?!" Kiba yelled, earning a few concerned looks given his way by the staff at Ichiraku's.

"We shouldn't really talk here, people will hear hear us and that's the last thing we need to add to our problems." Naruto said in a clear manner, thanks to Kyuubi repeating 'Repel Hinata' multiple times over to stop him stuttering madly when it wasn't needed.

Kiba hesitated for a moment while holding back the urge to demand Naruto for information on the spot, as Kiba's not known for being a patient and quiet man. He then nodded to Naruto who stood up from the bar, paid and said goodbye to Old man Teuchi. Naruto led Kiba towards the center of town where he planned on going to a certain place of knowledge, thanks to Kyuubi pointing it out.

"Are you going to tell me whats gong on Naruto? This better not be some stupid joke!" Kiba shouted frantically.

"No it's not a joke! We're going to the Jutsu archives." Naruto replied, seeing as there was no point in giving a detailed account as it was pretty self explanatory - they were going to try and find mind-controlling Jutsu.

"B-but what if it wasn't an ordinary Jutsu?!" The brunette burst out, "I doubt they're going to publish a scroll of a mind-controlling Jutsu for public use!"

"We could just check the restricted section then silly" the blonde flirtatiously winked and somehow pouted at Kiba like a horny fox, forgetting that he was winking at the real deal, shocking both of them. Naruto mentally scolded himself for doing that, as at first he had 'Hinata Syndrome', but now he thinks he has 'Karin Syndrome'! And by Kami she was a slut!

"Ugh Kit save the flirting for later! You really are like that bipolar banshee, changing from cripplingly shy to overly flirtatious ..." Kyuubi cringed, not expecting to see her innocent kit do that.

Kiba however felt a weird feeling in his stomach 'ugh, what's this feeling? I don't feel sick or anything but, it feels kinda weird, like from the dream.' he pondered to himself, never having felt that kind of feeling around anyone else before. Kiba has never had a girlfriend or boyfriend and he's never really fitted himself in a category such as straight or gay, as it's never phased him to not have a human partner; he has Akamaru after all! He continued to think until he noticed Naruto blushing to himself like mad, which was strange considering he's the one who was flirting!

Kiba guffawed after realizing Naruto's blunder and that caused Naruto to blush even more, turning him Cherry red, even making Kyuubi laugh at him, poor Naruto!

Naruto shook it off and tried the always-working mantra of 'Compose'. However Kyuubi ungraded it to 'Control' to, as she described it, "Control your sexual mannerisms and innuendo's you promiscuous slut" as she kindly suggested to him.

The teens arrived at the archive after it seemed an eternity, especially in Naruto's case after his ridiculing.

They both walked to the other end of the archives which took a good 5 minutes due to the extensive collection of Jutsu that stretched seemingly on for miles. They then saw a metal clad door reinforced with various steel chains leading to their desired location.

* * *

RESTRICTED ACCESS.

* * *

"Um, we didn't really think about the possibility of the restricted section being actually restricted did we? hehehe..." Naruto scratched the back of his head and his nervous laugh was clearly showing.

"Don't say "we" as this was your idea moron, you just told me to follow you!" Kiba rolled his eyes as he realized his blonde friend was called a "Knucklehead" ninja for a reason sometimes.

"OK OK let's just both focus and think of how we can solve this!" Naruto calmly yet confidently replied, realizing that getting flustered will only make things harder.

Kiba grunted in reply, as he couldn't dispute what Naruto said.

Naruto and Kiba both wen't into their respective thinking modes, with Naruto turning almost comatose with blocking out the outside world, and Kiba making growling and mumbling noises to himself while closing his eyes hard to try and block out any distractions.

They worked out that the door responded to visual data, as a camera was placed at the center of the door that recognized authorized Shinobi and their chakra, or at least they thought it did.

It took about a minute before they both shot open their eyes and discovered the easiest way to access it was-

"TRANSFORMATION!"-"TRANSFORMATION!"

"HEY I SAID IT FIRST"

"NO YOU DIDN'T, I DID!"

"LIKE HELL YOU -"

'Oh Kami here we go...' Kyuubi said with the will to live draining out of her.

After 5 minutes of brawling, blood and tears they both tried to figure out who they had to transform into to gain access through the door.

"Hmmm"

"Ummmm"

They hummed ideas to themselves for a few seconds, until Kiba had a good yet obvious idea.

"Hey, can't you just turn into Lady Tsunade?" He mentioned to the other thinking teen, trying not to imagine it going wrong as they used to in the academy, as Naruto never had a real knack for transformation.

"No way! You do it!" He exploded, not wanting to turn into "baa-chan" ever in his entire life.

"Naruto you've spent far more time with Lady Tsunade then I have, and I can only transform into a man-beast clone!"

"There must be some other way..."

"You can also get Kyuubi to mimic peoples chakra for a short duration right?"

"Kinda..."

"And the only way through the door is by looking like her and imitating her chakra, I can't do one of those things but you can do both!" Kiba exclaimed, knowing he won the argument by a long stretch.

The blonde haired teen would usually keep on arguing for the rest of eternity, but since it WAS Kiba who was asking (or demanding) and his life was at stake at finding this Jutsu, he gave in with a submissive nod and repeated 'Control' no wait 'Compose'! (Damn you Kyuubi!) in his head to get ready for the transformation.

A loud explosion of smoke echoed through the hallway, momentarily blinding Kiba and obscuring the whole hallway with a smoke screen, who was waiting anxiously to most probably see a hideous monster appear from the fog with a wig that imitates Tsunade's hair.

Surprisingly, It looked like a perfect transformation! She had life-like hair, the clothes were exactly like her's and... She was holding something.

"Haha very realistic Naruto! I don't think you needed to hold a clone of yourself th..." Kiba stopped speaking as he slowly began to realize that the "clone" that she was holding was in fact a very scared Naruto who was shitting bricks, and the "Transformation" was in fact the REAL DEAL.

A FUCKED-OFF TSUNADE.

"What the HELL do you think you're doing here!?" She screamed , while shaking Naruto in the air causing Kyuubi and Naruto to almost piss themselves.

"PLEASE BAA-CHAN HAVE MERCY!" Naruto cried, literally fearing his life with the Herculean woman being thoughts away from pulverizing him.

"Please, Lady Tsunade, hear us out!" Kiba pleaded, literally dropping to the ground on his knees in sheer terror of the Sannin...

There was a pause, the atmosphere so tense you could cut it with a Kunai. Then unexpectedly they heard-

"Hahahahahah!"

Laughter emerged from the previously terrifying scene, as Tsunade was just engaging in her sick way of 'pulling their legs' after all, literally in Naruto's case as he was hanging in terror before hand.

"I'm just kidding around sheeeesh take a *hic* joke you kids! " The now clearly drunken Tsunade said. She dropped Naruto and he scurried away. It made more sense why she acted so horrifically before, she likes to indulge in terrifying others when she's had a little too much Sake.

"BAA-CHAN!" Naruto screamed, pissed off that she thought seeing him nearly crap himself was hilarious.

"Oh ssshut it foxy!" Slightly slurring her words while struggling to engage in a proper conversation.

"Anyways we need to get into there!" Naruto said while pointing at the iron-clad door, "Its important Baa-chan!" desperation lining his tone.

"What makes you think I *hic* would let you in there?"

"His life is depending on it!" pointing over to the still gobsmacked Kiba, "I've lost enough people who are important to me in life! From my parents to Pervy-sage, Neji..." his words becoming even more laced with emotions the more he continued on with the dread list,

"And I WON'T lose Kiba!"

Both Tsunade and Kiba looked up surprised at Naruto's ferocity and loyalty to his friends, to Kiba...

'This... weird feeling again, what is it your doing that's making me feel this way Naruto?'

While Kiba was still trying to figure out the new feeling Naruto had given him, Tsunade looked into Naruto's Cerulean eyes, seeing an Ocean of loyalty, determination and something else... something which Naruto may experience in the future, and something he is continually fighting for, whether he knows it or not.

"Hm" Tsunade grunted taking all she's just heard and seen from Naruto into account.

"I know a liar when I see one... you really need this Jutsu, don't you?" It was largely a rhetorical question on her part, but Naruto still nodded to reaffirm his commitment to solving the Mystery of the Manipulator.

"Go on in" she barked, trying to get them moving quickly without too many hugs and other sickly forms of "thank you!"

"Thanks Baa-chan!" Naruto excitedly beamed, While Kiba respectively bowed "Thank you Lady Tsunade!"

"But!" Tsunade thundered.

Both teens froze.

"When all this is over, you have to repay me somehow!"

Kiba's dirty imagination kicked in and the face he pulled showed horror as if he's seen the devil himself.

"Fine i'll save up some Ryo and put it to your gambling budget" Naruto somberly said, knowing that she would of wanted a favor too.

"That'a Boy!" Tsunade laughed.

"Now go find that Jutsssuu" she slurred after sipping some more of her Sake she brought with her, but she thankfully managed to sober up during the deep conversation. It would of been beyond awkward if she didn't.

Tsunade took the unorthodox approach of letting them through by breaking the heavily reinforced door down with her Heavenly Kick Of Pain; The teens ran through the annihilated door and found themselves in the Restricted Section.

It was Massive. No one ever would of thought there could be such an array of Jutsu in one place, let alone mostly forbidden ones! Kiba and Naruto cautiously crept through the aisles, feeling quite vulnerable and not particularly safe.

"Hey, I think It would be best if we split up, there's like over 10 aisles just for Genjutsu! Kiba exasperated, still shocked at how many Jutsu there must be, and how long it could take!

"Got it" The blonde replied determinedly.

They both took opposite sides of the Genjutsu Section and moved one aisle closer to the middle with each one they finished. Each aisle was easily at least 30 meters long, brimming with dusty tomes and scrolls of old Jutsu that had sealing formula's inscribed and also some booby traps too; they had a tough search ahead of them!

At least that's what Naruto thought. He was moving on to his second aisle when he could hear Kiba hollering for him, "Naruto, over here!."

Naruto speedily dashed towards Kiba's voice, but he found it difficult due to the overall Section having dim lighting, so even if he was at the other end of the same aisle from Kiba he still probably wouldn't be able to see him. Naruto focused chakra into his eardrums, something which usually only people with acute chakra control can accomplish, but in Naruto's case he has Kyuubi to help him.

Naruto pinpointed Kiba's location and ran towards him, towards his third aisle. He saw Kiba was holding a relatively small scroll with a purplish brown hue. It had a cream colored center like most other scrolls too.

"So what did you find?" The blonde said anxiously, hoping they've found out the mischievous Jutsu.

"You're gonna want to read this."

**A/N: Woo for my longest chapter yet! Review If you can, would appreciate it :) hope you enjoyed it!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Perfect Moment?

**A/N: Hi! Hope you enjoy this chapter, a****nd thanks to my reviewers, keep them coming! That's enough from me, so** get reading ;) 

Naruto saw the scroll that Kiba had fixed in his hand. It felt archaic and had a rustic look to it, hinting that the scroll could of been many decades old. Naruto gingerly reached for the scroll in Kiba's masculine hands, still worried that it could be booby-trapped and end up killing both of the teens.

'Get a hold of yourself Kit! If it was booby-trapped your puppy would of been blown sky-high by now!' Kyuubi barked, trying to hurry her Jinchuuriki as they didn't have time to waste.

"My Puppy?!" his face turned crimson red, especially after realizing that he shouted it out-loud which was happening a lot recently.

"Teh! A Puppy? I'm a full grown wolf foxy; I'll prove it if I have to!" Kiba winked at Naruto, hoping to see Naruto try and cope with both embarrassing himself and being flirted at.

Naruto had enough of being taken the piss out of, so he grinned like a cheeky fox and responded.

"I wouldn't mind seeing some 'proof'. " he purred, shocking Kiba with his newly found sassy foxy.

"I-I w-was uhh..." the other boy stuttered, turning red as he really didn't expect Naruto to respond so confidently and... cutely.

'Cute? Why the hell would I find Naruto cute?' he continued, really not sure where he stood with the Jinchuuriki after recent events.

Naruto saw Kiba go red, sending all kinds of signals to his mind.

'Kyu, do you think he likes me?!'

'Hmm he's blushing almost as much as you, but it wouldn't be fair to make such assumptions on that... i'll keep watch on his body language and let you know later Kit, I need to be certain.'

'Thanks!'

"Ugh Naruto?" Kiba recovered from Naruto's flirt attack to get on with more pressing matters while shaking the scroll in his hand to emphasize that.

"Oh, right... hehe." Naruto took hold of the scroll, but accidentally touched Kiba's finger, making each other shudder with electricity coursing through their bodies.

'Kami, that was only a touch with our fingers...' the blonde gasped, 'Imagine if we were...'

Kyuubi slapped the blonde, 'By Kami hurry up and open that frickin' scroll already!' she barked, getting tired of Naruto's dirty and time-wasting antics.

'Ok Ok!'

He rolled the scroll open much to his surprise, as this wasn't any particular Jutsu, or even a group of offensive mind controlling Jutsu, but instead...

| Defense against Genjutsu: Amulets and Talismans |

"I don't see why you picked it out Kiba, we need to find the actual..-"

"Read it." he commanded, showing how important this find was.

Naruto sighed then opened the dust scroll. He rolled the scroll continuously, coming across depictions of necklaces and trinkets that were made from special materials through clan rituals, listing the needed materials as well.

He rolled and rolled the scroll out for what seemed like ages, becoming less focused the further down he got to.

"There!"

Kiba pointed his index finger at a few sentences just explaining another Amulet, but something was different, yet familiar, with this certain necklace...

The description said:

'An ancient heirloom of the Senju Clan of Konoha, this amulet is said to protect its wearer against Genjutsu that controls the body and mind. A highly sought after piece of enchanted jewelry that has been strictly passed down the Senju line, currently held by the Legendary Sannin, Princess Tsunade.'

Naruto was in awe after realizing that the necklace that Tsunade recently gifted Naruto, was in fact this legendary Amulet!

"Good job Kiba! If this scroll is true then we can just put this one on you, and ask Tsunade for help to make another one with the instructions here!

That's when it hit him.

"Crap, where's my necklace?! he yelled.

Naruto was frantic at this point, as he knew he had put it on earlier in the day.

"No! We're screwed Kiba! That 'Manipulator' bastard or whoever it is will keep possessing you and then I'd have to fight you! I don't want to fight you or hurt you 'cause I never got the chance to...!"

But before he could carelessly spill his secrets, Kiba held his hand out, it was closed hiding something inside.

Naruto stopped his rant and looked at Kiba's hand, his eyes growing larger the more Kiba opened his hand.

By the end of it Naruto's eyes looked ready to pop out his head after he realized that Kiba was holding a necklace, Tsunade's Amulet!

"W-where did you get that from?! Don't tell me you took it when I weren't looking! He accused, pointing his finger at Kiba with deadly intent.

"How could I manage to take it off your neck without you knowing? When I clearly haven't even touched you? Your such a moron sometimes Naruto ahahaha!"

Kyuubi also laughed at Kiba's remark, saying something about him 'knowing the truth' and 'your idiocy' or something like that, as the yet again humiliated blonde blocked out her mocking voice.

Naruto blushed at realizing how ridiculous his accusation was, so he gave Kiba the chance to explain how he REALLY got hold of his amulet.

"How did you get it then?"

"I found it on my bean bag, you must of dropped it there after running for your life!" he laughed.

"Wait, how did you know I ran for my life?" The blonde curiously replied, not realizing he confirmed Kiba's suspicion of Naruto actually being scared for his life.

"Akamaru told me obviously!"

"Oh." he dumbly replied, remembering that the beast could communicate with others in its clan.

"Well anyway, we gotta get this scroll to Tsunade and hopefully get her permission to create a new amulet!" the blonde planned, knowing that they should only go confront the Manipulator with ample protection.

"Good plan, but an obvious one..." the other boy winked, trying to add some light-heartedness to the gloomy situation.

Naruto turned away while trying to hide his emerging blush, Kyuubi weren't helping, with her making reference to how sexy Kiba's winks were, among other things...

Both boys walked back towards the door to the Standard archives, engaging in general conversation to try and help reduce the stress of the current situation. Naruto was starting to feel confident and secretly excited about the whole ordeal, as it's proven to be a challenge that has already made Naruto a stronger and smarter person, which to him is one step closer to achieving his dream of becoming Hokage.

Kiba on the other hand was still wondering about what he should do about his new strange feelings for the blonde fox boy. He was skeptical about having romantic feelings for him as he never had those feelings, for anybody. The handsome Inuzuka had been flirted to by Ino, Tenten and most of the other girls in his age group, but he never felt turned on or interested in them. Naruto however had been giving Kiba those strange, but also nice feelings that he couldn't categorize other then being... special.

Both boys continued to think to themselves while making their way to the exit of the archives.

"Naruto!"

Both boys just made out the person's appearance by the exit: black shinobi boots, 3/4 length black trousers and a belly-top. It was clearly Sai.

He finally stopped in front of the two shinobi, having a surprisingly natural smile adorn his features, something which Sai usually found very difficult to achieve.

'He must have found something we can use! Naruto giggled to himself, feeling like this mystery was fast on its way to being solved.

"Hi there Kiba, Naru!"

Naruto cringed at hearing that awful pet name again. Kiba saw this and tried to stifle a laugh.

"Uhh hi Sai, did you get anything we can use?" the blonde said slowly sounding less disturbed the more he spoke, trying to push "Naru" to the back of his mind.

"Why yes, I did! Would you like to see what I've acquired?"

"Well obviously!" Kiba barked, getting annoyed the more he heard Sai's pointless stalling.

Sai pulled a book out of one of his pouches in his ninja belt, it was relatively small but was called the "5th Addition Shinobi Databook", sparking the interest of the other two teens.

"I managed to obtain a confidential book of records that has the recorded skills and attributes of the Rookie 9!" He grinned.

Naruto looked perplexed at why Sai brought this particular book, "Why would you bring us one of the Rookie 9? Whoever this manipulator is, they are the enemy!" he shouted, seeing the manipulator in his head as an evil grotesque mass of snakes, like Orochimaru.

"From what you explained to me and Sakura was that the possessed Kiba said quite envious and immature words, such as "You think you are the best" and so forth, so I thought that it's one of the Rookie 9, as after all they are all weak compared to you and that probably has created some extreme jealousy!" Sai explained bluntly.

"Weak?! At least I don't attack with a frickin' paint brush!" the brunette snarled, pissed off at Sai's assumption.

Sai just turned to the brunette and gave him a horrifically creepy smile, not knowing how to react to his response so he decided creeping him out would shut him up either way.

While Sai and Kiba argued, or Kiba mostly, Naruto was thinking why any of the Rookie 9, his supposed peers and friends, would try and get him killed.

Naruto really didn't want to have to interrogate his friends, but if it would stop him and Kiba, or more people, getting possessed then it was a risk worth taking.

"Sai... let me see that book".

"You must go to page 32 to see Rookie 9's stats. I'd recommend looking at the Genjutsu section for any real idea to who could of cast the Jutsu!"

'Well no shit Sherlock, we were going to look at the Taijutsu stats until you just told us...' Kyuubi sarcastically scolded.

"OK... thanks Sai, it means a lot that you helped me out, i'll read this later!" the blonde thanked, grateful that there are still some people he can trust and count on.

Sai deliberated on how to react to Naru's 'thank-you', but he decided to show some camaraderie and hugged his Naru in a death like grip.

While Naruto was struggling to breathe, he heard growling and turned towards the sound to see Kiba showing his incredibly sharp teeth to Sai.

'Oh, this is very interesting...' Kyuubi added, knowing that this is a sign of protection in the animal kingdom, which Kiba is basically part of due to his clan.

"K-Kiba?" Naruto sounded scared, thinking he was being growled at, not Sai.

"O-oh, Err I just s-saw a rat! Yeah I thought it was gonna bite you Naruto so i scared it away hehehe..." Kiba badly lied, trying to make up a reason for his spontaneous growling.

"Oh, Really? To me it sounded like you was growling at me for holding Naru!" Sai said, unknowingly humiliating the now red dog-boy.

"Grrr you Baka!"

"OK OK that's enough you guys" the blonde shouted, not liking all this unneeded attention and arguing. "We really need to get moving Kiba, thanks again Sai" Naruto hurriedly escaped from Sai's death grip while grabbing Kiba's wrist to lead him out, making both boys feel that spark again.

"Bye Naru, and mutt!" Sai smiled, intentionally trying to piss Kiba off even more.

"Why you arty-bastard! I'll shove that paintbrush right up your a..! he was cut off by Naruto yanking him out the door to try and stop another attempted murder from happening.

Both teens walked towards the Hokage tower, Naruto hadn't opened the Data-book yet as he wanted more evidence before making assumptions on his friends.

Naruto led the way to Tsunade's office, as he had a greater experience with the volatile "baa-chan" then Kiba did.

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*

"Come in!"

Naruto opened the solid Oak door and confidently waltzed in, with a hesitant Kiba slowly walking in too, bowing his head to the Hokage while Naruto didn't even think of doing such a thing.

"Baa-chan, you knew that Amulet you gave me protected me against Genjutsu, right?"

"Well yes, It's common knowledge in the Senju clan, but how do you know, and why did you ask? The princess inquired, very much surprised at Naruto's sudden curiosity of her heirloom.

"We found a scroll in the restricted archives in the Genjutsu section that said this amulet could be replicated, we need another one!"

"What?! Why would you need another one?" She demanded, now wanting to know why Naruto and Kiba are making such appeals.

'You're gonna have to tell her Kit if you want her help' the fox advised.

'...Fine'

Naruto explained the whole situation to her with Kiba pitching in every so often so help make the Mystery sound more valid to the scrutinizing Hokage. After 5 minutes of explaining to her, she had to think about where to go with the surprising revelations.

'So Kiba got possessed, and they believe it's by a Genjutsu caster that could be in the Rookie 9...' she thought over, trying to make sense of it and see if their current investigations are leading them in the right path.

Naruto and Kiba both watched the thinking Hokage anxiously, hoping she would lend her assistance in crafting another Amulet at least. Tsunade was not known for being very compassionate, but her beloved knucklehead Naruto had given her a soft spot after so many years of living in the ruthless ninja world.

"I'll go to the head of the Senju clan: Mokuzai, and instruct him to gather the resources to construct a second amulet of oak. It should be done within a day or two so go preoccupy yourselves until then".

"Thank you again baa-chan!" Naruto ran around behind her desk and grabbed her in a hug much like Sai's: a death-grip.

"Thank you Tsunade!" Kiba also ran around to give her a hug, grateful that she helped them two times when she could of stopped them anytime she wanted to.

Tsunade wasn't much for hugs, as was evidently shown when her Ballistic Fists of Destiny smashed into Naruto and Kiba's body and soul, sending the devastated teens flying out of her office to great effect.

They both recovered after about 10 minutes with the help of Shizune, who was sent by Tsunade to tend to them in case she managed to almost hospitalize them. Shizune bid the boys good luck and returned to the office.

"Ughh my head..." the blonde groaned

"Guhh I know, she sure has a strange way of showing her affection!" Kiba exclaimed, coming to get used to Tsunade's Kicks of pain and punches of destiny as her form of endearment.

Both boys stood up and began to walk/limp down the stone steps outside of the tower. They both eventually reached the bottom and decided it best to go back to their houses to get some rest, It was 11pm after all.

Before they parted ways, Naruto was reminded by Kyuubi to give Kiba the Amulet as he was at greater risk.

"Kiba, I think you should wear this amulet for now" Naruto extended his hand with the Amulet inside.

"Nah i'll be fine! It's your amulet after all and you could be possessed too!"

"Kyuubi can sometimes break me out of a Genjutsu so there's less of a chance of me being controlled by this bastard manipulator, you need it more then I do."

He walked over to Kiba and placed it around his neck. His warm breathe caressed Kiba's neck, sending signals through the other boys nervous system. Azure and Hazel eyes connected, giving both boys the weird feeling in their stomachs again, making them breathe heavier then normal. They both weren't expecting this, at all, but they gathered their courage to test if they really were meant to be...

They both stared into each others eyes for what seemed like a blissful eternity, 'the eyes being the window to the soul' was definitely true in this case, as both boys looked and saw raw emotion within each other; longing for one another.

'Go for it Kit' Kyu encouraged

'It's now or never'

Naruto slowly leaned in, taking in the intoxicating aroma of Kiba more deeply then he ever anticipated, a handsome smell of musk and spice pleasured his senses. Kiba done the same, feeling he was being scanned by Naruto while fully appreciating the blondes foxy-allure too, as the scent of Ramen and Vanilla soothed and indulged his senses as well

Both faces came even closer, so near to connecting and creating something between both teens, something meaningful. Kiba placed his soft yet masculine hand on Naruto's left whiskered cheek

Both lips were just center-meters away.

'I can't believe this is happening' Kyu cried, proud of her kit being so close to finally getting someone of worth.

Their lips slightly touched, already sending sparks through each-others bodies, then-

"Naruto!"

Both boys span around separating from each others hold.

'How DARE she ruin this moment!' Kyu was enraged, wanting to kill the girl a hundred times over.

The girl was in fact Sakura, who ran towards the blonde; looking incredibly crestfallen after being interrupted from starting his first kiss with Kiba.

"What is it Sakura..." Naruto sighed, still downcast over such a perfect moment being ruined.

"My mission got cancelled so I was just on my way to the Hospital to access the files until I saw you two!" She clearly had good intentions of just greeting both the teens, but if she realized what they were about to do, she wouldn't even of thought about intruding.

"Well we're fine, we just found out that my amulet can protect the wearer against Genjutsu so Kiba's wearing it." He remembered just a second ago of putting it on his neck, taking in his gorgeous scent..

Sakura noticed how downtrodden Naruto was, which firstly surprised her as he would normally be buzzing all over the place with excitement at figuring out a way to help stop the manipulator.

But it was when she saw Kiba that she begun to realize what she intruded upon, he looked frustrated and... upset almost.

"Oh Kami I'm so sorry! I-I'll meet up with you guys tomorrow sometime!" She ran off trying to leave the boys as fast as she could, as if it could rewind time somehow.

Naruto was the first to speak after a few short moments of almost awkward silence: "W-well it's getting late and all so I guess we should head back to our houses..." Kyu didn't say anything about his Hinata-stutter for once; she could perfectly understand how crappy and awkward Naruto felt.

"Yeah I guess..." Kiba sounded less downtrodden then Naruto, but he didn't let his emotions show as much as the blonde did.

"I'll S-see you tomorrow then..." Naruto started to walk off, but he heard something.

"Dinner tomorrow!"

Naruto heard, he slowly turned around to make sure he was hearing correctly.

"W-...what?"

Kiba took a deep breathe, trying to 'Compose' himself.

"I said... Dinner tomorrow!" he almost shouted, as if trying to get it across without having to tortuously repeat himself.

"..." Naruto stood gobsmacked at Kiba, not knowing what to say as he weren't expecting it.

'Say Yes, Say Yes!' Kyu screamed

"U-uhhh Yeah! T-That would b-be great!" he madly stuttered, not believing what was happening.

"Great! We could stop by my place for Six?" the brunette surprisingly said with confidence, not not letting himself mess up such an important moment.

"Y-Yeah... that'd be perfect." Naruto whispered towards the end, not knowing that the Inuzuka had superior hearing, which caused Kiba to grin madly.

"I'll see you tomorrow Naruto! Goodnight!" Kiba shouted while running off, clearly happy with the response he got.

"O-Ok, Goodnight Kiba!" He responded with just as much energy, feeling ready to burst with both nervous excitement at what just happened.

'Can you BELIEVE this Kyu?! He asked me out to a date!' the blonde started to happy dance in Kyuubi's cage

'I'm so exited for you Kit! I forgot to tell you earlier but I knew he liked you from the get-go!' Kyu laughed

'Why didn't you tell me?' He replied, still too happy to be mad at her

'I wanted to see if you had grown up enough to pursue a relationship without me always giving you a heads-up, which you just proved! You've got a fine catch there kit, i'm sure he'll be great in bed too!'

'KYUUBI!'

Naruto and Kiba both returned to their own homes, however feeling slightly different to what just occurred between them both.

Kiba was still not one-hundred percent certain that a relationship would work out with Naruto, as he doesn't even know what his true sexuality was yet. He hadn't even ever kissed someone other then his family too, so he did not know if all kisses with other people are like that... But tomorrow night would be the ultimate indicator to whether they really are right for each-other, or if that near-kiss was just a spur of the moment.

Naruto however couldn't of been anymore excited. He had high hopes for Kiba being the best boyfriend he could ask for, better then Sasuke was. He decided to think back to how he had indulged in a relationship with Sasuke, but how he had his heart broken after he was almost killed by him.

Tears fell from Naruto's eyes, remembering how awful Sasuke treated him. How Naruto was treated like the dirt underneath his feet, a tool at most. He remembered back to Sasuke so that he hoped that, unlike Sasuke, pursuing a relationship with Kiba could make his life better, not worse. He knew Kiba to be loyal, protective and surprisingly caring of his friends, of Naruto...

But Now that Kiba has the Amulet, Naruto didn't need to worry about his dog-boy being hurt or forced to hurt others, and thankfully Kyuubi could help protect Naruto from the controlling Jutsu also.

Although the manipulator was still out there, both boys could afford to spend a day away from the mystery. They needed to wait for another amulet and more clues from Sakura anyway;

It really was becoming A Romantic Kind of Mystery after all.

**A/N: Woo for the cheesy pun at the end! We'll have to wait and see how the romance progresses with The Manipulator still on the prowl! Reviews would be appreciated ^_^ P.S. I'll be taking my time with the next chapter to make sure it's the best it can be, so don't try and pressure me to rush 'cause i'll just ignore it :')**


	5. Chapter 5: Sakura, The Saviour

**A/N: Hey guys, I guess my version of "taking my time" isn't very long at all haha. I tend to incorporate Japanese words like "baka" in my work, so obviously check them out on Google if you don't know them before accusing me of spelling errors ;) Anyways, enjoy!**

Naruto began to made his way back to his apartment in the center of town, while practically buzzing with excitement at recent events. He decided it best to take a network of alleyways to get home faster so he could get as much 'beauty sleep' as possible - he definitely didn't want to look tired for his date tomorrow.

Naruto whistled while calmly strolling through the set of alleys, still thinking about what clothes he should wear, his hairstyle and how he should act around Kiba on the date.

He continued on through the alleys until he saw the apartment complex. "Finally we're almost back. I Don't know if I can sleep though with all this excitement!"

'I know your anxious but pipe down kit, it's giving me a headache!'

'Ok sorry kyu... it's just that I want this to work, so perhaps i'm getting a bit too over-

'Kit watch out!'

An explosion blasted through the alley, most probably a paper-bomb, causing Naruto to go cascading into a wall.

* * *

**Darkness enveloped him.**

* * *

Deep blue eyes slowly opened taking in the surrounding area, unsure of what happened. A flash of platinum blonde and emerald green dazzling them.

Footsteps became increasingly louder as he laid there, not sure what was happening. The sound of footsteps eventually stopped right before his head. The boy managed to work out that the Platinum blonde colour that assaulted his eyes were in fact part of something, of somebody... He couldn't quite work out who it was as his eyes were still blurred.

"As I said before, Uzumaki, you seem to think that you can get who you want when you want - like Kiba" the voice hissed, sounding familiar yet different at the same time, probably as it was so venomous.

"W-who are you?" Naruto tried struggling back onto his feet but fell back down to the dirty concrete, still dazed and weakened by the bomb.

"You really think I'd tell you? You must think i'm an idiot! Always thinking you can get your way, even while your on the dirty ground" the increasingly feminine voice snarled, clearly hateful of Naruto even speaking.

"Y-your the m-manipu-"

"Well obviously, you stupid faggot!"

'HOW DARE YOU SPEAK OF HIM THAT WAY!' Kyuubi desperately wanted to kill the horrid creature, but the seal was still locked and Naruto couldn't unlock it without Tsunade's permission.

Naruto clenched his jaw while trying to get up again to show this "manipulator" that he weren't going down that easily. He got onto his knees and began trying to get a good balance while holding onto the wall for support.

"Not so fast" the now definitely female voice shouted, kicking Naruto in the stomach both knocking the wind out of him and sending him back on the floor.

"D-damn it!..."

She walked towards the incapacitated teen and knelt down condescendingly in front of him, relishing in the moment of her victory. The Manipulator was indeed very sadistic, almost as much as Orochimaru. She proved this by slowly searching for something in her coat pocket, eventually pulling out a sharp kunai with a hint of purple. She brought it over to Naruto's whiskered cheek and lightly run it across each whisker.

"Imagine if those whiskers were to look all scarred over, you'd stick out even more then." malice soaking every foul word she spoke.

Naruto's eyes were now fully adjusted, he looked up with deep resentment for the rogue while taking in her appearance. She was covered in a black cloak, wore a facial bandanna which had a gold outline and some of her platinum hair stuck out of her hood. She had piercing green eyes as well, which explains why the possessed Kiba had a hint of green in his eyes too.

She grabbed him by the neck to prevent him moving, and dug the kunai into his cheek and began to rake it across each whisker, causing some bleeding. She obviously had a deep loathing for Naruto and she planned on making that clear for the word to see.

"P-please, stop it!" He couldn't move the rest of his body as she had him bound to the floor by a Jutsu of some kind, controlling his body. She was almost like a puppet master except she controlled humans instead. Naruto had no way of fighting back as the Jutsu he was under had all his muscles locked down, something which Kyuubi couldn't help with due to the seal recently being strengthened.

"Ahaha!" she laughed heartily, clearly enjoying this torture. "I plan on making you suffer for your arrogance. You think that being the Hero of the leaf will win you over MY Kiba? Well here's a proposition for you, if you go on that date tomorrow I'll make sure to finish the job!" She growled, malice shining in her green eyes.

She went to rake the last whisker on his right cheek, planning on making it deeper then the rest so it stood out even more. She quickly lifted the kunai from his cheek and poured a purple substance on it that she got from her other pocket. It returned to Naruto's right cheek pierced his skin, making him howl with pain as blood seeped out.

"Naruto!"

The Manipulator shot her gaze towards a figure at the other end of the alley. She quickly wall-ran up towards the top of the building and made a fast escape.

The figure ran towards the tortured blonde, gasping at the sight of his wounded face and trauma from being hit by the explosion. Naruto's eyes eventually focused on his savior, it was Sakura.

"S-Sakura? Is that you?" he pleaded, hoping to see a friendly face.

"Oh Kami, what happened?!" he tried to reply but was becoming increasingly weaker. "Naruto, we need to get you to the hospital right now" Sakura tried her best not to sound frantic and scare Naruto, but his bleeding face was making it hard for her.

She saw a Kunai on the floor by Naruto with a purple liquid dripping off of it. She lifted the kunai near her eyes to closely examine it, shocked to find out it may of been a poison of some kind. Sakura placed the kunai in a plastic seal-bag cautious not to accidentally poison herself. _I'll get this analysed when we get to the hospital, by Kami I hope it's not fatal. _She worried, remembering the deadly poison of Sasori that almost killed her and Granny Chiyo.

She cautiously lifted him up while being extra careful not to hurt him even more. As she was a medical ninja she began to apply her green healing chakra to Naruto's head to try and quell the bleeding. She picked him up and traveled to the hospital as fast as possible without making Naruto's condition worse. Along the way she thought about who could do this to him, the first thought being The Manipulator, who she assumed was a sadistic man like Orochimaru or Kabuto.

"I guess he doesn't stick to just hiding behind the scenes then, we gotta be extra careful how we deal with this guy..." Sakura was surprised that The Manipulator would openly attack Naruto without getting someone else to do it for them. But considering it was the middle of the night and in a secluded alley, it shouldn't be unexpected.

"Naruto you idiot... why did you take a alleyway at midnight when you know that bastard is still out there?!" She felt like punching the blonde as she always did with her anger issues, but they quickly submerged after seeing the injured blondes bruised and wounded face.

"You really scare me sometimes Naruto... I might have to ask Tsunade for you to have a bodyguard, whether you like it or not!" she continued talking and telling off the blonde who had passed out from the pain a while back. They were near the entrance of the Hospital which was thankfully quite near the apartment complex.

Sakura kicked the main door down of the hospital warranting gasps and some screams from the main lobby. "Move outta my way, we got a wounded Shinobi here!" she screamed trying to alert the staff that they need an ER quickly. Medical staff began to stream out and placed Naruto on a stretcher to take him to his treatment room in a separate department for Shinobi.

"He may have experienced trauma to the skull, brain and spine. He could also be poisoned so get him on the primary antidote IV quickly!" Sakura barked, informing the medical staff of his ailments. "Got it!" they affirmed, completely confident in Sakura's judgement as she was an esteemed member of staff there, knowing her way around many cases that perplexed so many other nurses and doctors.

_I guess that leaves me with the poison to figure out._

Sakura rushed to the medical lab on the basement level of the building hoping to crack the poison quickly so that Naruto could get the most efficient antidote. The general antidote was (as the name implies) an antidote that could fight most forms of poison, but for all she knew the poison could be very complex and perhaps fatal, like Sasori's.

She began to extract the purple, viscous liquid from the kunai and placed it on a medical tray to first test the form of the poison, to see how fast it could spread through the anatomy. Her findings were concerning as the poison seemed to spread rapidly. She next wanted to test the most important attributes of it: If it could kill him.

She infused the liquid with her chakra to help reveal the makeup of it. It was unlike any other poison she had come across, as it had been infused with someone-elses chakra and what seemed like... a Jutsu of some kind. She was shocked by this discovery, as it could potentially help track down The Manipulator, along with how he controls his victims. The medical-nin however had to figure out how to erase the poison's affects though, as she was worried that the Jutsu would in fact cause Naruto to become possessed while in the hospital.

Unlike other forms of controlling Genjutsu, this was obviously applied and activated inside the body, so a simple 'release' couldn't work as it has become part of the victims body. It did however work with Kiba during the spar that the both teens had. Sakura theorized that this was because the Poison only had a time-limit to it's effectiveness in the body, so Naruto had released the Genjutu as it had already been weakened by Kiba's anti-bodies over time.

Sakura continued to work hard on examining the poison's properties, trying to work out how to make a suitable antidote as soon as possible.

Meanwhile Naruto was put on an IV drip containing the general antidote, which Sakura worried wouldn't be enough to prevent the Genjutsu from taking hold. She discovered that she could cultivate special anti-bodies containing an Anti-Jutsu aimed at destroying the other controlling Jutsu by draining the foreign chakra, allowing it to be safe for use by Naruto without draining all his own chakra.

She extracted antibodies from a cultivator in a small container on her lab desk, then proceeded with infusing it with the special Jutsu she had crafted through her medical-ninjutsu. She then placed the special anti-bodies within another IV bag filled with other body-regenerating fluids. She also placed some within an injecting-needle, in case the IV tubes somehow didn't work as she weren't going to take any chances with Naruto's life on the line.

"It's done! Now I gotta get back to Naruto." Sakura praised Kami that the special antidote was formed so quickly, thanks to her not planning on seeing her best friend being possessed or killed.

She rushed out of the lab and into the Elevator, pushing the "4" button with enough vigor to almost break it. The elevator slowly moved up through the hospital, much to the pinkette's annoyance at it's tortoise-like speed.

"Cha! Hurry up you slow bastard!" She screamed profanities at the elevator, desperately wanting to smash the box of metal to pieces if it weren't for her needing to use it. It finally stopped moving and *bing* it opened with a pink blur speeding out of it with lightning speed. Sakura entered the Shinobi ER department of Konoha Hospital. It was large as over half of the village populace was Shinobi, and Shinobi needed more resources as they often sustained severe battle injuries.

She ran to the reception desk, "I need to find Naruto Uzumaki, which room is he in?!" she panted, nearly exhausted from all the running around she's partaking in, at 1.a.m in the morning!

"I'm sorry Sakura but there's been a safety breach in his room and the ANBU are currently dealing with it, no one is allowed in or they could be harmed." the receptionist explained, however becoming scared that he will in fact get harmed after seeing the fire in her eyes.

"Look, Iyashi. I have the antidote for Naruto and that could stop his rampage, so you give me the room location and i'll leave you be" She said with threatening chakra pulsating from her with every word she spoke. Iyashi was surprised that Sakura knew that it was Naruto who was rampaging as he didn't say who it was, but also scared that she would destroy him with her Cherry Blossom Clash if he didn't tell.

"Ok Ok the room is #17!" He pleaded, not wanting to get on her bad side.

"Thanks Iyashi, you might of just helped save lives" She smiled at him, making him blush.

"I-It's fine, just be careful, would ya'?" He quietly said, worrying about Sakura's safety above all else.

She reached over and kissed his cheek, making him blush even more.

"Don't worry about me" She smiled, then ran towards room #17 not wanting to waste any more time.

She was running through the twists and turns of the Hospital corridors trying to find the room, but it turned more into a sprint when she heard fighting and screaming coming from a room down the next corridor.

_Just hang in there Naruto, I'm on my way!_

She reached the door and tried opening in it but to no avail: It was locked. However to any apprentice of Tsunade this wasn't a problem at all, as Sakura just used her Almighty Fists of Retribution to implode the door handle, sending the door crashing open with a dynamic entrance.

She was shocked with what she saw: Naruto had injured an ANBU Black Op to the point where he was bleeding all over the floor, as well as two other ANBU Ops' performing a bunch of hand signs which was strangely familiar.

_Oh no! Not the Lion Closing Roar!_

This was an A-Rank sealing technique that Sakura used against Sasori, which effectively shuts off all Chakra of the victim. She knew it would kill Naruto, she had to intervene!

"Stop! It will kill him!"

"It's the only way to stop him from destroying this hospital and killing all the staff, so please step back and let us do our jobs."

"No! He's being possessed you Idiots!"

Her cries were to no avail as they continued on with the hand signs, meaning that Sakura had to act quickly to pacify Naruto if he was to live.

She turned around and charged towards the blonde with her injector in hand, ready to impale his arm and release the antidote.

_I can't afford to miss, If I do they'll kill him!_

She tried landing punches on him to knock the teen out, with the aim of making her job easier. But Naruto just laughed at her efforts while mocking her, "Your as slow as ever forehead! Ahahaha!"

_Grrr who ever is controlling him is gonna get a beating when I find them!_

He dodged her punches with relative ease, while having a mischievous smile adorn his features. The Manipulator really did get a kick out of her sadistic actions, as the whole fight within the hospital was just as she planned.

But while the controller of Naruto was thinking of how successful her plans were going, she didn't realize that Sakura had a shadow clone restrain Naruto from behind, preventing him from dodging her any longer.

"H-How did you learn that technique?!" The Manipulator hissed, clearly not expecting Sakura to have pulled off such an effective diversion.

Sakura readied her injector, testing that it could effectively expel the antidote and release Naruto from his recent possession. "You seem to have a tendency of underestimating people, don't you?" She said while walking towards the boy. "Why don't you just show yourself, tell us who you are!" She shouted, wanting answers here and now.

"Hahaha! I'll tell you one thing forehead. I will have Kiba." the controller snarled through Naruto.

Sakura stabbed Naruto in the arm with the injector, slowly releasing the Antidote into his system.

"He... will be mine..." Naruto muttered as the Genjutsu was already beginning to wear off.

Sakura began to turn back around to the ANBU Ops after placing the passed out Naruto on the hospital bed. "I've done it, you can both stop!"

The two ANBU members had in fact stopped a while back when Sakura first engaged Naruto in combat, as they were interested to see if she was right about the Jinchuriki actually being possessed and needing the antidote.

"We must alert Lady Tsunade of the situation, stay with him and make sure he doesn't become possessed again." One of the ANBU member said.

"He won't be possessed anytime soon, but I'll stay by him anyway"

Sakura had begun to heal the other injured ANBU Op in the room who was hurt by Naruto before. She continued healing him until she heard running outside the door and then saw Tsunade appear within the room with a face like thunder.

"Sakura, is Naruto wearing an Amulet?!" Tsunade roared, demanding answers from her.

"N-No Lady Tsunade! He was just wearing his normal outfit like always!"

"Well that explains it then! Naruto you baka..." Tsunade knelt down beside Naruto and began to heal him as he still had trauma from the situation in the alleyway.

"L-Lady Tsunade?" Sakura asked apprehensively, trying not to invoke her masters wrath.

"What is it Sakura?" She turned around to look her in the eyes. Worry was clearly eminent in Tsunade's features.

"You said about Naruto wearing an Amulet and you looked like you realized something when I told you he didn't have it... Does it have anything to do with his possession?" She asked inquisitively.

"Yes, it does... The Amulet I gave him protects against Genjutsu controlling the body and mind, but Naruto must of given it to Kiba." she explained.

"Oh, that'd make sense considering he was possessed before..."

"Naruto must of thought the Kyuubi could of protected him from this Genjutsu, that kid is a dobe sometimes."

Sakura reached for something in her pocket, gaining the attention of the Hokage. "What's that Sakura?"

"It's something you'll want to look at Lady Tsunade" She gave Tsunade a sheet of the results of the poison that Naruto was possessed by: containing the make-up, properties and the crucial part of it actually having Chakra lined with a Genjutsu.

"So this is how he was possessed..." Tsunade said to herself, quite amazed that her student cracked the poison so efficiently yet so quickly.

"I brought Naruto here after he was incapacitated in an alleyway by the complex," - Sakura had Tsunade's full attention by now -"there was a poison-laced kunai left behind in the alley by the culprit, who we think is The Manipulator." Tsunade looked focused as she was trying to fit the pieces together.

"Thank you Sakura, you've been an invaluable asset in all of this and you just saved Naruto's life." Her mentor said with the up most pride in her student, seeing a reflection of herself already in the making.

Sakura smiled humbly back, not wanting to appear arrogant.

"I'm glad to be of help Lady Tsunade, especially if it means I can protect the ones who matter to me!"

"That'a girl" she patted the other kunoichi on the shoulder.

"W-here am I-"

Both women turned around in a flash to see that Naruto began to arise from his rest.

"Lay back down Naruto, you need to rest or your recovery will be slower." Tsunade ordered.

"Baa-chan? W-Where the hell am I? And where's that bitch!" He said getting more angry the further he spoke.

"Naruto! Calm down. You need to tell us what happened in the alley." Sakura intervened, not allowing profanities around Lady Tsunade, which is ironic as she had a mouth like a sewer.

"W-Well I was walking back to my apartment and then a bomb wen't off, I think?" Kyuubi was helping Naruto fill in the gaps as he had concussion from the blast.

"Go on." Sakura encouraged.

"I remember seeing platinum blonde hair and also something green, but she had covered the rest of her face and wore a black cloak."

"She then got out a purple-looking kunai and..." Naruto realized that his face must of been badly damaged after recalling what she done.

He began to feel around his face and felt bandages, he couldn't believe what was happening. He was at the top of the world after being asked out on a date with Kiba, but now his face is badly injured and will probably scar over. He thought he was going to look hideous for the date, If he was even discharged from hospital that is! He turned the other way from the women and hid his face under his arms.

"N-Naruto, are you alright?"

Sakura moved to the other side of the bed and sat down next to him, as she lifted his arms from his face she saw that he was crying.

"W-Why me?" he sobbed, hating the manipulator with every fiber of his being the more he thought about what she done. "I bet my face looks awful, Kiba won't want to be with me after this!". He continued sobbing while being soothingly rubbed on the arm by Sakura, who felt terrible for her best friend. Naruto didn't care that he said that out loud, he had nothing left to lose he thought. But Sakura and Tsunade weren't at all bothered with Naruto being gay for Kiba, as they knew he was a long-time back when they both eavesdropped on his conversations with Kyuubi about the dog-boy. They were both total Yaoi fan-girls and loved hearing Naruto talk of Kiba so affectionately.

"Naruto, Kiba will accept you no matter what happens, that much I'm sure of" Sakura comforted.

"But my face... he won't want to be seen with me!"

Tsunade intervened "Naruto, if we work on the injury with specialized medical-ninjutsu then you won't have scar tissue. And even if you did, plastic surgery is always available."

"I... guess your right. But are you guys Ok with me and Kiba d-dating then?" He said worriedly, hoping that they, pretty much his family, would still accept him.

"If he treats you well, then i'm fine with you both having a relationship together" Tsunade said truthfully.

"And If it saves me from you perving on me at the hot spa, i'm perfectly Ok with it." Sakura winked at the blonde, trying to lighten the situation.

"Hehe, thanks guys" A smile appeared on his wounded face, cheering both of them up instantly.

"Enough of this mushy crap" Tsunade breaking the atmosphere was her specialty it seems, but she continued. "You'll be pleased to hear that we can put you through a fast-track recovery regime with me being the head-medical director of the team assigned to you. You could be released tomorrow if all goes well." She smiled at seeing Naruto's jaw drop to the floor, as this could mean he could get to go on the date tomorrow.

"Y-You'd really do that Baa-Chan?"

"I'm not as much as a dragon as I seem Naruto. I want you to be happy -" she knelt down beside him -"and if I have to spend all night fixing you up to do that, i'm more then willing to help."

"BAA-CHAN!" He started crying on her shoulder, overwhelmed at all the support he's receiving in his biggest time of need. Tsunade patted him on the head while surprisingly not wanting to break the moment suddenly as she always did. Maybe Naruto was getting to her.

"Right enough of this you cry-baby!"

Or maybe not.

"I'll go set up the fast-track facility in the next ward." Tsunade said as she began to walk to the door. "Oh, and Sakura, make sure to tell Naruto of everything that's happened in the meanwhile" She left the room while dragging the almost forgotten and now unconscious ANBU member out and closed to door to allow the Teens some privacy.

"Naruto, as you just saw there was an unconscious ANBU Op and some blood on the floor" she pointed at the splatter trying to make the explanation as easy as possible. "You remember that Kunai that had purple liquid on it?" He nodded, trying to fit the pieces together while she was explaining. "Well it was a poison, and I found out that the poison had the mind controlling Jutsu inside of it." Naruto's eyes went as big as saucers, shocked to think that he could of been the one who caused the blood splatter on the floor.

"A-Are you saying that I was P-Possessed?!" He howled with disbelief.

"Yes, but I created an Antidote and stopped the possession before you could do any real damage so don't worry. And the reason you still got possessed was because you weren't wearing your Amulet!"

"But I thought Kyuubi could snap me out of Genjutsu? Right Kyu?"

'This wan't a normal kind of Genjutsu kit, listen to Pinky over there and you'll learn why.' Kyuubi already knew that it weren't normal as she would of been able to snap him out of it if it were.

"I told you it was a poison baka! It directly flowed into your bloodstream and brain so it weren't just in your chakra network like ordinary Genjutsu."

"But how did I release Kiba from it then?"

"He was possessed probably before the spar to set it all up; my estimates suggest that the poison has a time-limit of an hour or so before it is weak enough to be dispelled though an ordinary chakra burst"

All the pieces finally started to fit in Naruto's head, making him realize that The Manipulator planned for Naruto to go on a rampage in the hospital, to stain his reputation and name as the Hero of Konoha, or even get him killed.

"I think she wanted to ruin my reputation or get me killed, either way it would of worked without you intervening, Sakura." He looked up with the up most sincerity in his Cerulean eyes "Thank you, I probably wouldn't be here without you"

She smiled and gave her best friend a hug, taking solace in the fact that they now have a stronger bond then ever.

The door burst open and Tsunade appeared with a small medical team, ready to wheel Naruto into his special fast-track recovery room with Tsunade taking the helm. Sakura was ordered to tell Kiba tomorrow about the nights events and that Naruto may not be able to go on the date, as although Tsunade was the best medical-nin in the world, recovery can be a tricky business.

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I thought it was time we had another incident with The Manipulator! As i always say, Reviews would be appreciated ^_^**


	6. Chapter 6: The Meeting

**A/N: This is by far my longest chapter, almost double the length of my previous one! I hope you enjoy it, get reading! ^.^**

Naruto was wheeled down the seemingly endless corridors, turning left then right repeatedly, starting to make his head spin. He heard whispers from the medical staff who was escorting him, talking about Naruto's possession and who could of done it. Naruto also wondered who it was, but already had a disturbing inkling that it was one of his friends in the Rookie 9, Ino. He remembered seeing the platinum blonde hair and green eyes, both things that Ino had.

_I don't want to have to prosecute my friends, but I guess I might as well try and figure out if it really was Ino, what else could prove it was her...?_ _I'll have to check her Genjutsu affinity from the Databook given to me by Sai when I'm outta here._

Naruto continued trying to produce a reason to see if it was her who was The Manipulator, while he almost reached his destination of the special medical station for his fast-recovery treatment, led by Tsunade. They finally arrived at a white double-door with the words "Special Access" visible on a plaque above the door handles. The blonde really felt grateful to Tsunade after seeing the plaque, as it made him realize he was lucky to have such powerful and influential people by his side.

Tsunade slammed the doors open, this time avoiding using her 'Kicks of Pain & Punches of Destiny' as her tab for collateral damage to her own village was high enough as it was. The room was quite large, looking like it originally catered for the needs of multiple Shinobi at once. However the room was largely empty, warranting confusion from Naruto, while he was wheeled into the center of the room. "Uhh baa-chan? Are you sure this is the right place?" He asked with all honesty, thinking that there must of been a misunderstanding.

"Of course it is idiot! Take a look under your hospital bed and you'll see why."

Naruto done as instructed and painfully lifted himself up slowly to avoid reopening any wounds, he was surprised yet terrified to see a whole network of signs and Jutsu symbols arranged right beneath his bed, stretching out in a diamond shape across the entire floor. There seemed to be a circular diagram beneath his hospital bed that had various ethereal inscriptions within it, frightening him more.

"U-Uhh what Jutsu are you exactly gonna use on me? Hehehe..." Naruto's nervous laugh emerging, worried that he'll somehow be turned to dust by the Mega-Jutsu going wrong.

"It's the Healing Regeneration Technique and it's the fastest way to get you healed so stop panicking you big dummy and lie back down!" She snapped, getting tired of him asking questions and slowing her down.

Naruto done as commanded, hesitantly laying back down and trying to get himself comfortable while ridding himself of any ill-thoughts. He heard an array of tools and equipment being moved to each corner of the room, where a medical-nin had sat down while beginning to perform hand-signs in each corner. He couldn't help but lift his head up to see what else the medical-nin were doing, but had his head pushed down forcefully by Tsunade, giving the hint that looking up equaled having worse head trauma, which equaled no date with Kiba.

"So what exactly is gonna happen granny? Is there any side effects or..."

"Naruto you'll be fine, there's no side effects as this is pure healing Jutsu and the more you talk the less chance you have of going on that date tomorrow!"

The medical-nin from each corner looked up at Tsunade and Naruto, trying to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Get back to work!"

Tsunade caught on immediately of their spying as she felt a disturbance in the chakra field of the Jutsu, they all snapped their heads downwards hoping not to get slugged by the foul-tempered Hokage. Naruto had to suppress a laugh as he loved seeing her scare the crap out of people other then himself for once.

"You won't feel any pain Naruto, so now that we got this covered I don't expect any more out of you!"

"Yes, but make it quick, I can't miss that date!"

He swore he saw a vein pop out of Tsunade's temple. She started mumbling something about "ungrateful" and "these days" but he shrugged it off, not willing to ruffle her feathers anymore. Tsunade went to a desk near the other side of the room and took out an Anesthesia dose to give to Naruto, as she strictly told the truth about it not being painful, while being unconscious that is.

She walked over to Naruto, while thinking of how to inject him without him freaking out and managing to break something as always.

_Yeah... he's stupid enough, that'll work!_

Naruto turned his head to see a serenely smiling Tsunade looking surprisingly, yet unbelievably, happy to see him.

"What are you up to old bat?"

_Damn, gotta make this fast as he's already seeing past my facade!_

"Look! A limited addition triple-pork Ramen!" She pointed to the other direction.

"WHAT WHERE?!"

She stabbed him in the right arm with the injector, the same place her student did only 10 minutes or so ago, showing worrying similarities between Master and Apprentice.

"There's no... Ramen..." Naruto began to go under already, showing how susceptible he was to drugs.

"Kami forbid he takes up drinking, he'll be smashed just by a sip of sake" she laughed, bewildered how such a strong and enduring Shinobi could be such a lightweight at the same time.

She placed her hands on his chest, emitting a green flow of chakra. "Begin the Jutsu!"

"Hai!" The four medical-nin channeled their chakra through the symbols on the floor to the hospital bed in the center, eventually converging into Tsunade's hands. Naruto was surrounded in green energy from the gathering of Healing Chakra, the Jutsu had officially begun.

_This will take at least 8 hours, your one lucky kid that I signed myself up to this Naruto, or it could of been days!_

"Shizune!" Tsunade shouted.

An explosion of cloud appeared next to the Sannin, Shizune was summoned but was in her rather kinky pajama's.

"L-Lady Tsunade?! Why did you summon me at this hour?!" Shizune was blushing uncontrollably, covering her printed nightshirt that said "Deep Throat" with a picture of a giraffe next to it .

"Bring me Sake!"

* * *

**Sakura's P.O.V**

The pink-haired nin decided it would be best to tell Kiba now of the situation, before he goes waking up at 5.a.m to knock at Naruto's house then realize he's gone, leading to a manhunt around the village etc. Sakura was deliberating over who The Manipulator could be, but like Naruto she also thought it could be Ino.

_Not many people mock me because of my forehead, so it could be Ino in that sense... Naruto also said that The Manipulator had Platinum blonde hair and something green: probably referring to her eyes. It all seems to be pointing towards her, but she's been fine with us up until now; It's hard to believe that she could suddenly turn into Orochimaru #2! __And whenever she talks about my forehead she always calls me "Billboard Brow", never just "Forehead". Maybe it could of been someone else impersonating her, but I don't know who... We need to find more evidence before throwing around open accusations, as that's just what The Manipulator wants: us to turn on each other!_

She clenched her fists, determined to find more evidence on who The Manipulator really is. Sakura then went on to think about the best way to gain that extra needed evidence. A meeting with Naruto, Tsunade, Kiba and Sai in the Hokage's office tomorrow was what she thought to be the best way to converge existing evidence to draft up a plan.

Sakura jumped across the rooftops towards the Inuzuka Estate, quite fatigued after so much commotion in early hours. "Damn, gonna need to take a seat when I get there" She breathed heavily. She was also contemplating on the best way to tell Kiba without him waking up the entire village with his ensuing rampage.

She finally saw the grandeur gates of the compound. It really was a prestigious residence, with multiple houses and communal buildings, hinting that there were actually more Inuzuka clansmen and women then most people would first assume.

"Kami... Naruto will be one lucky guy when he lives here with Kiba!" Sakura murmured. She didn't quite know why she said that he 'will' live there, it's just one of her hunches she thought.

She carefully pushed the giant gate open with ease due to her immense strength, but was concerned about it waking up the entire clan by making a noise of some kind. She opened it just wide enough to let her through and she slipped into the compound, trying to hazard a guess where Kiba was residing. She knew that if she were to announce her visit openly, they would probably kick her out and tell her to come back the next day, which she weren't going to allow.

Sakura focused her chakra to try and find Kiba, like on a radar. She recently discovered that she was a sensory-type nin, so Tsunade trained her in that sector to make her more efficient. Thankfully the training pulled off, as Sakura found Kiba's chakra and made her way cautiously to his location. She quietly slipped through the shadows around tree's and other natural objects to help keep her obscure, then she spotted Kiba's bedroom window and threw rocks up at it to try and wake him up.

* * *

**Kiba's P.O.V**

The ever so subtle smell of Vanilla flowed from the body, intoxicating Kiba. He gave chaste kisses all down the persons body, starting from the neck down to the chest and abdomen, showing affection with each passing kiss and nip he bestowed. Kiba thought this was Naruto, but In fact he didn't even look up at the blondes face to certify that.

Kiba decided it would be best to actually look him in the eyes before going down on him, so he lifted his head up from the blonde and - something was off.

"I hope your not getting any second thoughts Kibbles!"

"Tenten?!"

He looked up in astonishment to see that it was now Tenten who he was caressing, her body instantly morphing back into it's original female form.

"Why are you surprised? Am I not good enough for you?

She seductively crawled over to Kiba's side and licked the shell of his ear, causing a shiver to go down his spine. She lightly breathed into his ear while whispering.

"Forget that stupid fox, I'm better then he is! He has a dry asshole, whereas I have a nice, warm pussy that you can fuck all night if you want." She grabbed his clothed member and it twitched from her hold, making Kiba mewl from the contact.

"N-No, I can't..." Kiba tried to restrain himself, knowing that having sex with Tenten the night before his date isn't good at all.

"You know you wan't too" She looked into his eyes and slightly pouted, which Kiba thought was actually quite pathetic.

He had two sides to him battling it out to decide what he was going to do. With the mental side not allowing it, but his manhood saying otherwise.

He slowly laid back down on his bed, starting to give in to his physical desires. He saw Tenten give an almost sly smile and saw her crawl over him, ready to descend upon his plush lips and make-out with him.

_'No! I cant do this, what kind of boyfriend would I be doing this?!"_

_'Boyfriend? It's only one date, and i'm not even really sure If It'll work' _But he then saw images of a smiling blonde laying beside him under the duvet, snuggling closer to Kiba's warmth, expressing something amazing, obscure and heartfelt... something he couldn't describe. Kiba had decided that he weren't about to forsake something as beautiful as that.

"Get the fuck out of my house!"

Kiba roared at Tenten, a huge burst of his mental energy overwhelmed his petty physical urges. She was just center-meters away from their lips meeting, making Kiba grateful for the thoughts of Naruto helping him as quick as they did.

"Humph!" Tenten scoffed disgustingly at the other Brunette, vexed that he managed to resist her sexual approaches.

"I'll be seeing you then." She said, something quite ambiguous yet sinister about it's tone.

"Thank Kami she's gone, she would of completely messed things up in my head if she'd stayed any longer."

*KNOCK*

* * *

**General P.O.V**

Kiba slowly began to open his eyes, realizing that it was luckily just a dream, albeit a very lifelike one. He thought the knock that awoke him was just a noise from the drains maybe, his house did tend to make all kinds of sounds at night. He turned around to face the window, looking at the ethereal moonlight slip through his window onto his double bed.

"That thought of Naruto being here..." He began to ponder yet again on the Jinchuuriki, which seemed to be a habit in recent events. He remembered seeing Naruto laying in Kiba's bed sleeping with a peaceful, smiling face while close to Kiba's body.

"It felt right somehow, maybe the date won't be such a bad idea after all." He grinned, grateful that he still has Naruto to fight for in the struggle against The Manipulator.

*KNOCK*

Kiba saw and heard a pebble hit his window, assuring his interest as he got up to see who threw it. He stumbled off his bed and tiredly shuffled to the window, sliding it open to be greeted by a pebble to the face.

"OW! You didn't need to throw another one baka!"

"Oh sorry Kiba hehe."

"Sakura? What're you doing here at like 3.a.m?"

"I need to talk to you, it's about Naruto."

That was all Kiba needed to hear, he beckoned Sakura to jump up through his window so they could have a proper conversation in his room. Sakura entered his room, taken back by Kiba's scent radiating from the surroundings, almost overpowering her nose. "Gosh he must have a lot of hormones!"

Sakura managed to ignore the scent and told Kiba of everything that happened throughout the night, with her having to wrestle him back from jumping out the window to find Naruto multiple times.

"HOW DARE SHE! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON HER NECK I'LL-" Kiba was roaring at the top of his voice, surely waking some of the residents up already.

"Keep it down you knucklehead! You'll wake the entire village!" Sakura bopped him on the head, making him see stars for a while before regaining his posture.

_Damn she hits hard!_

"So I was thinking we could conduct a meeting with everyone to focus our efforts. Also, Naruto might not be up to the date so-" Sakura saw Kiba's face instantly appear disheartened at the mention of the date being delayed, so she decided to veer from her original conversation to cheer him up by bringing up something he wouldn't expect.

"Actually, in case he can go on the date, how about I help you prepare for the it? I could give you tips on what to wear, It could change your confidence and it's pretty easy to be honest!" Sakura smiled at seeing his face lighten up.

"T-That'd be great Sakura! Thank you!" He hugged her warmly, taking her by surprise but cheering her up nonetheless.

"Don't mention it!" Sakura knew that they had great potential, the fact that Naruto already crushes on Kiba made it that much more likely and with Sakura's help it could be a very productive date. Unless The Manipulator plans on ruining it, but Sakura also had plans to help prevent that for at least the one night.

"I better get going now, I really need to rest up after tonight!" Sakura began to walk off to the window and waved goodbye to Kiba.

"See ya later Sakura, come back tomorrow so we can talk over the plans!"

"Got ya, Oh and Naruto can't have any visitors tomorrow so don't bother trying to see him!"

Kiba nodded to her and waved her goodbye, watching her jump buildings towards the center of the village where she lived. Kiba returned to his bed and laid back down while reflecting on that life-like dream he had. "Why was it Tenten? I barely talk to her so it's odd that I was dreaming about her. I don't have any big attraction to her either, so why was the dream sexual?" He was perplexed by the abnormal dream, but needed to rest up so he could get through the busy agenda of tomorrow: An important meeting and of course his date. He returned back into a peaceful slumber, thankfully devoid of Tenten.

* * *

It was 7.a.m and The Medical team assigned to Naruto was mostly done with the Jutsu, but needed a little bit longer to finish the synthesis of his new cells to his chakra network. Tsunade had Shizune assist the healing when she weren't sent on Sake Runs. Naruto had slept comfortably throughout the night, largely due to the Anesthesia.

"I think we're almost done here Shizune, Kyuubi must of assisted in healing his body as this is quicker then I thought it would take, even with conservative estimates!" Tsunade was surprised to say the least, as most Jinchuuriki didn't have a bond quite as strong with their tailed beast like Naruto and Kyuubi. Naruto didn't develop any scar tissue, so he was completely rejuvenated from the process.

Naruto had a somber face, but changed to smiling then something like... ecstasy? Tsunade turned red at guessing what he was dreaming about, so she placed her finger on his forehead and tried to gain access to his dirty mind to see if she was correct.

_Two legs were above a blonde head of hair, resting on the muscled teens shoulders, Naruto's..._

_Oh yeah! Fuck of me harder Nar!_

_Oh god Kiba your so fucking tight!_

_Oh shit I'm gonna cum! NARUUU!_

Tsunade was sent flying by a rocket of blood that streamed from her nose, completely knocking her out by one of the walls from the impact. Shizune had a face of horror when she saw a wet patch emerge from Naruto's crotch, while his face looked enlightened and very fulfilled.

"T-That dirty little bastard!" Tsunade regained consciousness and staggered back up onto her feet and limped towards the horny blonde, ready to deliver her Elbow-Drop of Infertility upon the sleeping nin. Shizune quickly wheeled Naruto's bed away from Tsunade's attack, leaving a sizable crater in the middle of the room. Tsunade went over to the blonde, shaking him awake.

*Yawn* "Good morning Tsunade!" The blonde chirped, not bothered by the rigorous shaking he was subjected to.

_He's being moderately respectful for once, obviously must still be in the afterglow of that dream!_

Tsunade smirked and went to whisper in Naruto's ears "How big was he?"

Naruto turned pale, and after he looked down to see the sticky-patch in his pants he wanted the ground to swallow him up. After a very awkward conversation about safe sex and lubricants, Tsunade allowed Naruto to leave his bed and have a walk while she got the discharge papers sorted. Naruto waited in the lobby of the hospital taking a read through the Databook given to him by Sai.

He flipped to page 32 and saw the Rookie 9 stats, trying to inspect who was most apt at Genjutsu in the group.

_No one in the group is a skilled Genjutsu user... Sakura is the most able, but she obviously isn't the Manipulator as she saved me from her in the alley. Of course, it's a female!_

Naruto had just realized that The Manipulator was a girl if he was to judge it by the alley incident, effectively halving his search. Naruto saw that the most skilled in the Rookie 9 who was female were Sakura, followed by Hinata, Ino and then Tenten.

"But if Sakura or Hinata couldn't manipulate people, how could Ino do so when she's less skilled in Genjutsu?" Naruto was starting to confuse himself with all the contradictory evidence flying around, not sure at all if Ino really was The Manipulator or not. Before he could confuse himself even more, Tsunade had arrived with the forms for him to sign to be discharged. Naruto signed each form and handed it to reception, then walking out the exit with Tsunade and Shizune.

A messenger bird flew over to Tsunade and landed on her wrist, warranting the interest of the Sannin. She took out a scroll from it's pouch and sent the bird back to the Messaging office. She opened the Scroll while trying to push back a nosy Naruto, sending him flying as always.

_Lady Tsunade,_

_We need to hold a meeting In your office within a few hours If possible, it would be the best way to consolidate existing evidence and try to formulate a new plan against this Manipulator. I just spoke to Kiba and he's made extra sure to keep his Amulet on hand and to be vigilant. Hopefully the new amulet for Naruto is almost completed, I'd hate to see him be possessed again._

_Sakura._

Tsunade put the scroll in her pocket and continued walking Naruto and Shizune to the center of town. Although she was already planning on hosting a multilateral meeting, she was impressed by Sakura taking the initiative with the investigation, showing her to already be great Jonin material.

"What did that scroll say baa-chan?"

"We're holding a meeting in 1 hour and 30 minutes in my office, so I expect you to go get something to eat and then clean yourself up in the meanwhile. I'll send Shizune with you as a bodyguard."

Naruto grunted as he didn't want a bodyguard at all, but he knew that Tsunade would always get her way in the end, so there was no point fighting over it. Naruto thanked Tsunade again for healing him and made his way to Ichiraku's with Shizune, hoping to get her perspective on who The Manipulator could be while she was there. Naruto led the way and within minutes they were already sat down on the stalls ordering their food.

"Hey old man Teuchi!"

"Ah our favorite customer! How are ya Naruto?

"Been better I guess, but anyways, I'd like 4 extra pork miso Ramen!"

_Kami I hope this kid has his wallet on him, or i'll be in debt by the end of the morning _Shizune worried that his insatiable appetite would cost her a heap load of Ryo.

How right she was.

After another 3 bowls for him and just one bowl for Shizune, they decided to let their food go down before leaving to his apartment.

"So, Shizune." He caught her attention from staring at Teuchi processing the bill.

"Who do you think The Manipulator is?"

Shizune pondered for about 10 seconds, making Naruto already begin to fidget with impatience. "I honestly don't know Naruto, but if I had to hazard a guess i'd say someone who you would least expect."

"But that doesn't help at all!"

"If I had to hazard a guess on the evidence we have now, i'd say it could be Ino, but it's usually those who hide in the shadows of other ninja who score the best kills."

Naruto looked perplexed at this philosophy, but eventually saw how it actually could make more sense. Ninja who uses another ninja's persona instead of theirs could use that as a safety net, preventing people from ever guessing it was them. Naruto was really back to step 1 with the whole mystery, not sure who it could be now as he had very little conclusive evidence.

Shizune reluctantly paid for the Ramen and escorted Naruto back to his apartment, there was very little trouble as most criminals wouldn't dare to attack the Hokage's apprentice as she could certainly hold her own.

They reached his apartment and Naruto had jumped in the shower while Shizune "inspected" or nosed around his living area. The place was surprisingly clean other then the Kitchen, which was littered with Instant Ramen pots. She walked into his living room and saw a cosy yet dilapidated sofa, along with a small, old yet functional TV. She was distracted by her Inspection by Naruto bursting out from his bathroom draped only by a towel around his hips. Shizune heckled him to get dressed before she died of a continuous nose bleed, as the hot beads of water dripping from his defined torso made him glisten with a god-like sexiness.

Naruto grabbed a black tee with a orange Uzumaki clan sign in the center, along with black trousers and his black and orange Shinobi boots. Naruto and Shizune left the apartment and made their way to the Hokage tower to attend the meeting, they reached the Tower entrance to see Sakura and Sai waiting outside.

"Hey Sakura!" Naruto bolted towards his best-friend to talk before they had to enter the meeting. Naruto was just a few meters away from reaching her when he saw Sai supernaturally slide in front of him with his cringe-smile and opened his arms to trap Naruto in the Hug of Devastation and Friendship.

"Greetings my compatriot, Naru!" Sai successfully trapped Naruto in the hug, as he read previously that hugs were a sign of greeting among some friends. Naruto eventually broke out of the hug with Shizune's help as she was assigned to stop any bodily contact.

"Kiba!" Sakura waved behind Naruto, causing him to turn around and see the brunette jogging towards them.

'Kyu! What do I say?!'

'Uhh be natural you ass-wipe, the more worked up you get the more obvious is becomes!' Kyu was getting tired of Naruto constantly asking for help in recent events, especially as she was just in the midst of a very good nap.

Kiba reached the group, wearing his leather jacket, black trousers and shinobi boots as usual but this time wearing the emerald green Amulet of the Senju clan, letting Naruto feel safer at mind knowing that he couldn't be possessed anymore. Kiba greeted Sakura, Sai and Shizune but when he turned to Naruto, it was a different kind of greeting.

"Hey, Naruto."

"Hi Kiba, how are you?" Naruto surprisingly replied with no sign of Hinata's influence, causing some eyebrows to be raised by the rest of the group.

"I'm fine but I'm more worried about you, you had me really scared back there you know?" Kiba moved slightly towards Naruto, closing the gap.

"Don't worry about me, I can handle myself now!" Naruto pulled off his shining cheeky grin, making Kiba's heart beat uncontrollably. Naruto was told by Kyuubi to save the romance and flirting for the Date, to show Kiba that he weren't going to be an easy catch and certainly 'Not an Uke!' as she put it.

_He's making it hard for me to control myself, I just wanna take those lips right now!_ Naruto saw Kiba breathe heavier then before and saw a desire in his chocolate brown eyes, a longing for something. Naruto instinctively began to move towards him, oblivious of the surrounding groups proximity as he was so mesmerized by those beautiful eyes.

'Save this for later Kit, Tsunade's coming'

Naruto reluctantly turned his gaze away from Kiba's eyes towards the doors of the tower to see Tsunade standing there, with two ANBU guards.

"Everyone, come in!" Tsunade barked at the group and they all hurried up the stairs hoping not to antagonize the Hokage before the meeting actually began. Naruto led the group followed by Kiba and then the rest.

'This is how your relationship should be, you in charge and leading him!' Kyuubi said with delight, hoping her kit would take after her as a dominant figure.

_Stop banging on about dominance, our relationship won't be like that!_

Kyuubi laughed 'There is always a dominant figure, even if it's by a small amount! Don't be such a baka.'

Naruto once again blocked her out and continued up the stairs towards the office, seeing another two ANBU guards by the door.

"Why is there so many guards granny? There's never usually this much."

"The threat of this so called "Manipulator" is still there, and after recent events I don't want you to be unguarded until the threat is eradicated. But we'll move onto that during the meeting." The Sannin explained.

Naruto looked troubled to who she would assign to look over Naruto, as he expected to have a heartless ANBU guard that won't give him any privacy at all. Naruto sighed and continued on into the meeting room followed by the rest of the group, with the door being thoroughly closed by the outer guards to prevent any disturbances.

* * *

**The Meeting Room**

Tsunade led the teens into a secret room that she had hid behind a bookcase, which although cliche, still worked very effectively in being obscure. The room was fairly large with a meeting table in the center, with 10 chairs around it with ample room between them. Tsunade instructed them to take a seat and they all did so with Naruto and Sakura sitting together at the top of the table with Kiba and Sai facing them on the other side, with Tsunade taking the main seat at the top.

"We're still expecting a one more person, so bare with us."

"Who else did you bring old granny?! We don't need anyone else!" Naruto said again disrespectfully, vexed how this was becoming a nation-wide crisis at this rate.

Just as Tsunade was about to respond, the door opened showing a purple eyed young women who was the founder of Naruto's syndrome, Hinata. She made her way toward Tsunade and respectfully greeted her, completely contrary to how Naruto would of done so. She then spoke before taking her seat.

"I hope y-your Ok, N-Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled at Hinata's concern "Thank you Hinata, it's good to know I have friends like you!"

Hinata blushed uncontrollably but managed to take her seat on the other end of the table before passing out.

"Why is she sitting all the way over there?" Naruto whispered to Sakura.

"Hinata is here to detect any spies or signs of The Manipulator within or outside of this office, in case he or she decides to interrupt this meeting." Tsunade interjected as she heard Naruto easily from her seat.

Naruto nodded and remained quiet so that the meeting could get under way. Tsunade cleared her throat and placed her hand in her inner pocket to retrieve something. She pulled out another Senju Amulet that was just recently made, while handing it over to Naruto.

"Thanks baa-chan" Naruto put his Amulet on straight away, not wanting a second more of being vulnerable.

"You all know why you have been summoned here today, to figure out who the so called "Manipulator" is and put a stop to his or her villainous activities. They had possessed Kiba but a day ago, and possessed Naruto later that same day. You are all required to tell anything you know about who they might be, even if it's something as small as a dream or vision."

Kiba immediately remembered his dream with Tenten, but was hesitant whether or not to tell them as it was so embarrassing, especially with Naruto there. Kiba remained quiet and decided it would be best to tell if it was really necessary. Naruto was the first to speak up.

"I think it was Ino!" He shouted.

"Explain why you think it's her." Tsunade countered.

"When I was assaulted in the alley I saw platinum blonde hair and green eyes, both things that Ino has!" He claimed.

"I'll have to agree with him Lady Tsunade, as when he was possessed The Manipulator called me "Forehead" which only Ino usually points out about my features." She backed Naruto's claim.

"However she always called me, although embarrassing to say, "Billboard Brow" and never just "Forehead", so maybe it could of been another shinobi hiding under the guise of her.

Tsunade had to take these claims into account to assess if it really was Ino in the Alley, as they knew that whoever it was there was The Manipulator, as proven by the poison that they used. She finally came up with a question to try and prove the validity of their claims.

"Kiba, what do you remember from before you were possessed? It seems that this Manipulator acts by using a poison, so you must of been either attacked or poisoned through other means, try and remember what could of caused it!" She barked, trying to jump-start his memory through fear.

"I-I honestly don't remember Lady Hokage! All I remember that happened was coming across Team Guy!"

"What did you do with Team Guy?" She pressed, trying to extract every bit of information she can get from the brunette.

"I think we stopped for a bit and was offered drinks by one of them, I honestly don't remember anything else!" Kiba told everything he knew, as he didn't know at all which one of them offered him a drink.

_So it seems that could of been how he was poisoned, through a drink given to him by one of them... _Tsunade thought over the possibility of it being one of Team Guy who was disguised as Ino, but cleverly as they attempted to hide some of her features through cloaks and bandanna's, to give the impression that it was the real Ino who tried to mask her appearance. If they were to just fully transform into Ino without another disguise, that shows shoddy thinking and it makes it obvious to assume it was an attempt to blame it on another person.

_This one is smart it seems, this could be tricky._

"Sai, what made you think that it was someone in the Rookie 9?" Tsunade turned her focus to the solemn ANBU operative, sitting furthest on the other side of the table to Naruto.

"I've read in multiple books and novels that strength among certain peers can elicit strong Jealousy, not only for their strength, but also for their ability to impress other team mates, which The Manipulator probably can not. So I thought that The Manipulator is actually a generally unimpressive but very vengeful peer to Naruto, and has a strong obsession with Kiba." Sai explained his theory to the rest of the attendee's, with his ironically vast knowledge of emotions via books that shouldn't be discredited.

"I'll back that" Naruto supported Sai's theory, as although he thought it was Ino, after the current theories he's heard it could definitely be someone else.

"I asked Kyuubi to analyse the Chakra that was on Kiba after his possession, it must of escaped through his pores as it was in his body after all. She found out that it had Jealousy, just as Sai pointed out." Naruto had just proven Sai's theory to be correct, which could help narrow down their search through more analysis.

_So it seems that The Manipulator is probably a self-conscious and Jealous peer to Naruto, who has an obscene crush on Kiba which fuels that Jealousy..._

"Sakura, you spend a fair amount of time with Ino. Has she ever showed signs of being infatuated with Kiba?" Kiba blushed after seeing all this attention he was getting, but bared with it if it meant an end to the rogue that almost made him kill his best friend.

"I haven't seen her in a week or two, but she didn't have any kind of crush on Kiba from what I've noticed, not taking into account general talk about hot boys hehe..." Sakura essentially just called Kiba "Hot", causing Naruto to almost gnarl at her.

"Is there another rat?" Sai smiled at Naruto for his growling, just the same as he did with Kiba the previous day in the archives.

Naruto shot across a look that would of burned into Sai if he weren't so impervious to it, as his same cringe-worthy smile hadn't changed.

"Don't be so angry, Naru!"

"WHY YOU-"

"Enough!" Tsunade shouted to stop the pretty feud, as it was entirely inappropriate for such a serious meeting.

"Naruto, how has your friendship been with Rock Lee?"

"Well ever since I defeated Pain he's been somewhat distant from me, and he no longer challenges me to those annoying rivalry challenges. But the last time we spoke he said he's been trying to strengthen his chakra control to try and learn Ninjutsu or something like that." The blonde explained to Tsunade.

"Do you remember anything from the Training field before you fought the possessed Kiba?" Tsunade continued asking.

"Well it was pretty quiet, overcast and-"

"I'm not asking for a weather forecast, was anyone else there!" The anger vein began to show from her short-tempered head.

"I was getting to that old bag! I heard some Ninja tools on the field so I thought it was a shinobi training with Shuriken or something." He exclaimed.

"Try and remember what tools were used by their sounds, surely you must hazard another guess then just Shuriken!" Tsunade seemed to be onto something in her head, but needed Naruto to try and prove it right or wrong with a little more description.

"W-Well I don't know! I guess they sounded like something clanking, but not like two Kunai's clashing in a fight or anything like that, but more gentle, like it was for another use maybe.

"Did you sense any chakra from near you? Like in a bush or hiding somewhere?"

"I sensed something nearby that was familiar, but I was too preoccupied with the spar and in my thoughts to try spying on peoples chakra!"

_Something nearby that was familiar, clanking tools that didn't sound like they were used in a fight, Hmm..._

"I'd like to thank you all for attending this meeting, I'll need until tomorrow to discuss this further with Shizune and The Elders to try and target a particular Shinobi for 'questioning'. The evidence that we've heard isn't enough to prosecute anyone as it's just not solid enough, but after tomorrow with further research on my part, i'll let you all know what our plan of action is."

"Wait!"

Everyone turned around to see Kiba stand up, trying to gather the attention of Tsunade who almost dismissed them all.

"You said that even something as small as a dream could contribute to the evidence, right?"

Tsunade inspected Kiba with great scrutiny, already wondering what kind of dream it was that he had.

"Yes, I did. If you have something to say about a dream you've had, that's relevant to the investigation, then go ahead."

Kiba took a deep breath to try and comprise himself and prepare to tell of this embarrassing dream. He was worried that Naruto would take offence to him dreaming about Tenten sexually, but he had a plan to try and curb a bad reaction.

Kiba had explained his dream to the Hokage while leaving out some unneeded parts such as "fuck me all night long" and "nice, warm pussy" as he replaced them with simply saying "hitting on me". He saw Naruto's face become increasingly crestfallen the more he spoke of Tenten's advances, but made sure to emphasize how he indeed turned her down and did not succumb to her advances. The dream itself was not conclusive evidence, at all. However Kiba made sure to explain how it felt lifelike and that it could of been her invading his mind to try and seduce him.

Tsunade saw this is as, although inconclusive, another fact to consider as this may of not been just a wet dream in progress until he was woken up by Sakura. However many dreams appear life like to make more sense to the brain, so although he did indeed turn her down and saw her disappear, it may of been because he was being awoken, not because Tenten literally invaded his mind then left on her own accord.

"Thank you Kiba, that may of been embarrassing for you but well done for telling, that could help with this investigation." Tsunade was impressed by Kiba's ability to put the investigation and something else before his pride, a sign of a true man she always thought.

"Now I believe that we have something to go on, even if it is combined from all different sources with varying validity. As I said before, I'll evaluate everything I've heard from today and formulate a strategy, I'll get back to each one of you once I do, you are dismissed."

The teens all stood up from their chairs and respectfully wished the Hokage goodbye, all leaving the room through the bookcase entrance.

"Naruto, Kiba, I'd like you both to stay for a moment."

Naruto turned to look at Kiba, but wasn't experiencing the same kind of reaction of fatigue as he was, as Kiba looked surprisingly happy. They both walked back towards Tsunade's seat and stood either side, waiting for her to speak.

"If you recall Naruto, before the meeting I said I don't wish for you to be unguarded while this situation is still happening, correct?" Naruto nodded to show he was listening.

"Good, well I know how much you like to have your privacy, and that the ANBU ops tend to overlook such a luxury, so I was considering letting Kiba take you into his residence at least until this crisis with The Manipulator is over."

Naruto's jaw almost literally dropped to the ground, unable to process what his now beloved baa-chan had just said. His jaw was still on the floor after about a minute but Tsunade decided to carry on speaking rather then wait for him to recover, which could of been Kami-knows how long.

"Me and Kiba had discussed this while you went back to your apartment with Shizune, and he was perfectly happy with you moving in tomorrow, the Inuzuka clan leader Tsume said it would be fine also. They will keep you safe from this rogue." Tsunade almost smirked at seeing Naruto's otherworldly expression, clearly not believing he was about to move in with Kiba, to eat there, live there, sleep there!

'By Kami you look like your brain-dead kit! Stop drooling over the thought of sleeping there, in **his bed!' **Kyuubi knew that would finish him off, to great effect.

Naruto fell backwards but was saved by Shizune, who tried to muzzle a laugh at how affected Naruto was from this news. Naruto however seemed to snap out of his state and his face was replaced with elation.

"Yeah that'd be great, thanks a lot guys!" Naruto was told by Kyu to stop showing himself to be overly emotional and affected by this or he'd be 'a complete Uke', which was something that Naruto also didn't really want. Naruto shows both Seme and Uke traits, so he didn't want to be forced into a category, but instead wanted a flexible and well balanced relationship. Kyuubi laughed at this proposal, saying it was nigh-impossible, but he planned on probing her wrong in the future.

Kiba showed his toothy grin to Naruto, clearly pleased that Naruto was so glad at the aspect of moving in with him.

"Well that's all you need to know boys, and remember to keep your Amulet's on always!" Tsunade dismissed the boys and bid them goodbye while she talked over the meeting's revelations with Shizune.

Both teens left the secret meeting room and made their way back down the stone steps leading down from the entrance of the Tower. They both stood in the same area they did the night before.

"So, are you glad your moving in Naruto?"

"Pssh, you wish! I bet the place reeks of dog, gonna smell like you by the end of it!" Naruto smirked at Kiba's first devastated expression, before realizing he was kidding around.

"How do you think I feel? I gotta put up with a needy fox who will make me take him out to Ichiraku's every day! He grinned at seeing Naruto playfully stick his tongue out, not denying anything Kiba said about Ichiraku's as it was probably true.

Both boys reached the end of the stone path leading from the steps and had to split up to go to their own houses.

"I'll see you tonight Kiba!"

"Yep! See ya Naru" Kiba winked as he said the pet name and saw Naruto's body start to go through a shudder-attack after probably thinking about Sai again. Both boys waved to each-other, already thinking on what to do for the date. Kiba saw Sakura leaning on a wall on the path to his compound and hollered at her. Sakura smiled and ran towards Kiba.

"Hey Kiba! Did Naruto find out about moving in with you?" She said excitedly, waiting to hear of his reaction.

"Yeah! His reaction was priceless as he just stared into space for about 5 minutes while almost drooling!"

Both teens laughed at Naruto's antics again, but then started walking towards Kiba's house.

"When we get to your house, i'll pick out some good clothes for you, you'll have to worry about the dialogue during the date though!"

"Why can't you help with that?" Kiba sounded anxious, not sure how dating really worked in all fairness.

"This is your date, not mine baka! I'm not gonna write you a script." Sakura hit him on the head again.

"Ok OK!" He gave in, knowing that she was a mini-Tsunade in the making, and that pissing her off is not good.

Naruto on the other hand was consorting with a much more ruthless figure, Kyuubi. Kyuubi had already begun to give him 'tips' on how to dominate Kiba and be the alpha. Naruto sighed as he blocked her out for not being a great help at all, but she sometimes had other good tips that he could utilize on the date.

'I'm sorry Kit, I'll help out with the actual date, not the sex... yet!'

Naruto hit her with a Rasenshuriken for being so focused on the sex. He wanted this date to work, so if he had to force her into helping with it, he would!

** A/N: Phew, that was a long chapter! I hope you liked it and reviews are always appreciated :) My next chapter will take a while longer as it's gonna be pretty big! 'til next time! =D**


	7. Chapter 7: Something Worth Fighting For

**Warning: Lemon, Lime and other kinds of sexual content is on its way, along with some strong language of course, as this story is rated Mature for a reason! It might (no spoilers hehe) be starting to kick off in this chapter, so you have been warned. ;)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything referred to in the chapter or story, including the media, characters or any items.**

**A/N: Here it is guys! This took a while longer then my other chapters, and this will undoubtedly be a reoccurring theme. There's only so much I can do with my time, as college and work unfortunately demand most of my time and attention. If I take a few weeks or longer working on my next chapter , don't leave a review asking me "where is the update?" or something along those lines, as that's hardly constructive for me, so just PM me if you're really that desperate for answers, which will probably be that "I'm still working on it" lol. Anyway, enjoy and leave a review if possible! This chapter is also monstrously big compared to my other chapters, so I'd say the wait was worth it ;D And I'll leave with a very Naruto themed emoticon as well, please don't cringe too much! =^.^=  
**

Kiba and Sakura made their way back to his house while reflecting on previous happenings, concerning both The Manipulator and Kiba's newly found feelings for his blonde best friend. Kiba led the way to his home at a fast pace, due to him wanting to look absolutely great for tonight, which meant spending a long time getting prepared for it.

Sakura lagged behind slightly while still reflecting on the meeting that just happened a few minutes ago, trying to figure out who the controller was behind this whole crisis. She was often distracted from her thoughts with Kiba talking to her about irrelevant topics like his love of chewy food, and how he hoped the restaurant he was taking Naruto to was full of it.

"Kiba, you gotta make sure there's Ramen! It'll be an uphill struggle to keep him happy otherwise."

"I'm sure there is a BBQ restaurant that sells Ramen..."

"The BBQ restaurant was lost from the Akatsuki attack, you might have to go out of the village to find a restaurant that sells both Ramen and BBQ."

"Uhhh! I don't know if I wanna go traveling too far, that takes a lot of effort."

Sakura whacked him on the head and a slowly arising bump was becoming more apparent.

"This is a date you moron! You gotta put the effort in or it'll fall flat. Besides i'm sure it'll score you points if he sees you putting this much time into it."

"I guess your right, but I don't feel as enthusiastic as I should be..." Kiba's face looked conflicted, Sakura took notice of this.

"I'm sure you're just nervous, you've never been on a date before so I can't blame you! You'll do brilliantly, I'm sure of it." Sakura caught up with him to patted him on the shoulders, trying to comfort the unsure brunette.

"Thanks Saku!" Kiba hugged Sakura, his brilliant smile already emerging.

_He's so cute! Naruto, you are one lucky baka if this date goes well._

Sakura returned the hug, but broke it off quickly so that they could continue on into his house and get ready for the big night.

They eventually reached his house and entered through the giant bronze gates while closing it behind them. Both teens walked towards Kiba's house and was generally quiet while yet again in independent thought, as they knew they wouldn't have much time for that when they were getting ready for tonight. Kiba froze in his tracks and went pale, bringing the attention of the pinkette.

"What's wrong?"

"M-Mo"

"Spit it out!"

"Who the HELL is she?!"

Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin as she saw Tsume storming towards them both with a face like thunder.

"You know the rules Kiba! You can only mate with someone who-"

"Mother, this is my friend Sakura." Kiba put much emphasis on "friend" to try to make his mother realize they weren't going to be "mating" anytime soon.

Sakura blushed profusely after hearing Tsume accuse her of going to "mate" with Kiba, as she never really heard that word used when describing humans. Sakura however remembered that Kiba's clan is attuned to canines, so it does make sense why she said that instead of "sex".

"Oh, sorry Sakura." Tsume smiled at the confused teen who didn't understand her outburst.

"I'm sorry for that, it's just that during adolescence Inuzuka males generally mate with any females they can get!"

Sakura turned an even deeper shade of red, bordering on crimson. Kiba also blushed madly as he never had been embarrassed as much by his mother until now.

"She's just a friend mom, now can we go?" Tsume eyed Kiba like a hawk to try and detect what he was up to. She saw no lust in his eyes, so she was happy for them to go ahead. Kiba and Sakura practically ran away from the woman, not wanting to be embarrassed a second longer. They got to his front door and he fumbled for his keys, eventually getting them and opening the rigid Oak door. He led Sakura to his bedroom which he cleaned earlier, erasing his overpowering scent much to her relief.

"So, first off you need to take a shower 'cause smelling good is crucial!" Kiba gave a deadpan look back at Sakura.

"I already know that smell is important!"

"You asked for advice and I'm giving it, so if you don't want it I'll just leave!"

"No no no please stay!" _Damn why is she so moody?!_

She smiled back at him, really earning her title of "the bipolar banshee" as given by Kyuubi. Kiba entered his en suite bathroom and locked it behind him, letting Sakura pick out his clothes from his wardrobe while he was showering. She picked out grey 3/4 length shorts, a cardinal colored vest top and some high-top black shoes with a red under-sole. She checked to see how cold it was by opening a window and was surprised that it was pretty chilly, so she picked out a grey and black hoodie jacket to go with his outfit.

Just as she placed the clothes on his bed he emerged from the bathroom in a blanket of steam, obscuring his view from Sakura. However the steam eventually dissipated and a wet, towel-draped Kiba emerged from the bathroom with his glistening abs and torso on show for her to see. She had to fight back a fainting spell as his gorgeousness was almost too much, especially with something bulging under the towel.

Sakura saw his bulging manhood and had to fight back another faint, while also trying to avert her eyes from his incredible body.

"Sakura are you OK?"

"Uh-ugh y-yeah! Your clothes are on your bed so I'll just-!" Sakura ran out of the room and slammed the door behind her, leaving Kiba to get dressed.

_She's really weird._

Kiba got dressed while trying not to crease his clothes too much. He strolled over to the door and let Sakura back in, who was noticeably less red this time. She analysed Kiba's outfit and was impressed by what she picked out for him as the clothes looked better then she imagined.

"Looking sharp Kibbles!" Kiba instantly remembered that dream with Tenten and shuddered, not wishing to ever hear that pet name again. Sakura saw the shudder and make a mental note not to call him that again, so she changed the subject.

"We've still got a few hours left so we might as well figure out where you're actually gonna take Naruto!"

"Well Ichiraku's would make his stomach happy but that's hardly a place a date should be... Perhaps we should check out the neighboring town and see if they have any good restaurants? We still have a while so it's feasible." Kiba said confidently, to the surprise of Sakura.

"That's a good idea Kiba, you might not need me after all!" Sakura winked, trying to give him some well needed confidence for the night ahead.

Kiba was glad Sakura had been there to help him, as he wasn't as confident as most people would assume. In fact, he was a cripplingly nervous person and (like Naruto) often put on a facade of being overly confident and an extrovert when he was actually rather insecure. His mother had always been a control freak and usually aggressive towards Kiba, so he was worried about how Naruto would be able to cope with it when he moves in, especially if she finds out about their possible relationship. It was naturally Taboo for the heir of a clan to be homosexual or abstain from raising children, so that would be a whole other challenge for them to face, and he worried that Naruto wouldn't want to face such obstacles.

Kiba erased the thought from his mind and began to walk out of the door when Sakura grabbed him by the shoulder. He turned around and saw her holding the Senju Amulet in her hand, with an aggravated expression. He nervously laughed and hastily put it around his neck to ward off The Manipulator's abilities, as he/she could quite likely try to interrupt the date. Both teens made their way out of the compound and to the neighboring town of Amatores, intent on finding the perfect venue for the date.

* * *

Tsunade walked slowly down the long corridor from her office, leaving Shizune behind so she could collect her thoughts. The Hokage wasn't renowned for her tactical or strategist prowess, but she certainly weren't stupid, so she had a few ideas on what to do in the investigation. She had a few leads on who The Manipulator could be, such as Team Guy or Ino. Although she knew it would be unwise to not consider other suspects, she decided to first focus on finding out if Ino was indeed the rogue controller.

Tsunade spun on her heels and marched back to her office, planning on finding out where Ino was in the village so she could be questioned. She didn't want to have to interrogate such a promising ninja, but if it could erase the threat of her beloved Knucklehead Naruto being harmed, she would definitely chance it. She burst through her office door with as much force as always, causing Shizune to jump as she was just dozing off to a nice nap.

"Wake up girl! I need you to check where Ino is in the village, have her brought back for questioning!" Tsunade strictly shouted at her apprentice, not wanting to repeat herself as her patience was already worn thin.

"W-What lady Tssunade?" Shizune dazedly slurred while still half asleep, much at her own peril.

"Water Style: Raging Torrent!" Tsunade spontaneously summoned a stream of high velocity water that spun towards her student, blasting her in the cold liquid and causing her to scream.

"AHHHH! P-PLEASE STOP!" Tsunade laughed sadistically at her students dismay, but quelled the Jutsu as Shizune was most certainly awake now. Shizune shivered madly but got up from her seat and waddled towards Tsunade, looking like she was experiencing hypothermia. Tsunade eventually returned to a serious state to inform Shizune of what she was planning.

"I'll be contacting the Hyuga clan to provide a bodyguard for tonight. And as I said before I'd like you to find out the whereabouts and status of Team 10, especially Ino, are we clear?"

"W-Why would you need a bodyguard?"

"Not me you baka! Naruto and Kiba need one for their date, as I'm pretty sure that the Amulet doesn't prevent assassinations, does it?" Tsunade mocked her apprentice condescendingly, angered by her sudden IQ drop.

"O-Oh I see! Well I better find out the status of Team 10, thank you Lady Tsunade!" Shizune bowed to her master and scurried out of the office door, hoping not to anger Tsunade any more then she already has.

"She's such a handful sometimes..." The Sannin mumbled while already making her way out of the office to get to the Hyuga residence. However she thankfully remembered something crucial which she almost completely forgot, which could of cost lives in the long run.

_Damn my memories slipping!_

She span on her heels again and entered the office, getting ticked off that she was constantly bound to the place. She sat down by her desk and clapped her hands together, summoning two ANBU operatives in front of her desk.

"I need you to set up a perimeter around the village, deploy Village guards on patrols in the alleys and even more at night time, get this done ASAP, you are dismissed." The Operatives both clearly nodded and said "Hai!" while dispersing into a cloud of smoke ready to complete her orders promptly. She yet again got up from her desk and almost ran out of the office, hoping not to have to go back anytime soon, as she was itching to do some gambling after reaching the Hyuga estate.

* * *

"La la la la! Tonight could be the night! La la la la!"

Naruto was in the shower singing his heart out, exited and anxious about what was going to occur later that night, his date. He was generally making his own songs up as he went along, like a stream of consciousness, so most of the lyrics didn't make much sense when put together.

"I'm so excited yet nervous it's unreal... I shouldn't be though 'cause after all, me and Kiba are best friends, we should have loads to talk about! Right Kyu?"

_'I'm not gonna help you with the date, so figure it out for yourself!'_

"Don't tell me your still mad about me locking you in that cage? You couldn't control yourself with all the talk about 'Dominance' and 'mating' all the time!"

Naruto had let Kyuubi out of her cage long ago once they formed their bond, but she was still bound within him no matter if she was in a cage or not. However the cage was small, claustrophobic and made her cranky, so he often let her out so that she could be a little more comfortable. He would lock her back up if she crossed the line with issues, and in Naruto's mind she certainly did with the overly sexual dialogue about Kiba.

_'I was helping you plan for the Mating! That's the important part, especially with the risk of him domin-'_

As soon as Naruto heard the word "dominating" about to be said he instantly cut her off. He was getting annoyed of her constant talk about "who wears the trousers" and that "Uke equals sorrow" or some other nonsense. Naruto planned to have a meaningful relationship, one that weren't dictated by roles. He was already subjected to that by Sasuke, as he always had to be the dominant figure which irked Naruto to no end.

"Ugh I'm not gonna think of that bastard, I've got better things to think about!" He smiled to himself thinking back to the date tonight, which was still a few hours away until he had to go to Kiba's. He continued with the showering and picked out his "Cherry Blast" body wash, along with the new "Silky Strands" Shampoo and Conditioner he bought on his way home from the market. He wanted to smell and look his best tonight, and bought all these good quality products for that exact reason.

Naruto finally finished showering and towel dried his hair and body, not needing to blow-dry his hair as he could let it dry within the few hours. He opened his bathroom cabinet mirror and reached for his deodorant and aftershave, applying both products sparingly as he didn't want to overpower Kiba's hypersensitive nose, like in the Chunin exams.

"He really got a whiff of that one, and it reeked!" Naruto laughed while remembering Kiba's face when he smelt Naruto's flatulence, as it lost him the fight after all. The blonde found it also quiet embarrassing though, so he hoped his new fragrances would also help mask the smell of any rogue fart during the date. He put both products back into the cabinet and wrapped the towel around his waist and walked out of the bathroom.

He dropped his towel and appreciated his entire body; seeing his toned chest and abdomen, along with his pride and glory. It was only about 3 inches long when flaccid, so it weren't something to write home about. But when he was hard it was a good 6 1/5 inches, which was pretty impressive for a 16 year old, so he often called himself a "grower, not a show-er". He began to inspect his member by holding it and moving it to have a general check to see if the pubic area was well groomed, which he deemed it was.

His thoughts turned to Kiba and tonight, which initially made him show his goofy smile again from excitement, but despite that he was assaulted by images of Kiba's half naked and wet from a shower, staring into his cerulean eyes with lust-filled eyes to match. Naruto began to slowly stroke his member, gradually picking up the pace the larger it became. His breath became labored and he slightly thrusted his hips into the air every so often. His senses were overwhelmed with pleasure with each passing pump of his engorged member, he then saw Kiba's beautiful smile and his perfect face, but that made him feel... different then before, less about lust. He was just on the verge of his climax, but stopped pumping his softening member and let his hand fall beside him on the bed.

Naruto looked up to his ceiling confused to why he wouldn't climax, as he usually could do so without feeling such an urge to stop."I just couldn't do it this time... what's up with this Kyu?" Naruto asked her with no shame, as she knows everything about the blonde, so there's no need to be coy with her he thought.

_'I don't know kit, did Lee enter your mind instead of Kibbles?' _Kyuubi laughed, knowing full well that Lee was a devastating turn off for many people.

"Shut it Kyu! It didn't feel as it should be, I kinda feel bad for doing it..."

Kyuubi guffawed at Naruto, completely disregarding his insecurity of the matter. '_Don't be an idiot Kit! You've got your rocks off at every other man in the Village!' _Naruto blushed furiously as he was seen by Kyuubi as a chronic masturbator, especially when fantasizing about his male peers.

"I'm being serious! I feel bad for doing it while thinking of him, almost like -."

_'You're over-thinking it Kit, don't be such a puss. Anyway just get up and get dressed already!'_

Naruto knew she was right about him over-thinking, she always was one for tough love. He done as she said and started to pick out some clothes while trying to forget what just happened. He opened his drawers and sighed after seeing a whole mess of clothes that he couldn't be bothered to fold, so he had to pull them all out unceremoniously and chucked them all on his bed so he could sort through them. He closed his now empty drawer and started picking which clothes he wanted that was on his bed.

"Kyu, would these Chino's look better then these shorts?" He held a pale blue Chino trouser along with some think-material shorts.

_'It's cold out so for that you should put on the Chino's, but for sex appeal i'd say-'_

"Ok Chino's it is!" He quickly cut her off before they got into a whole new argument about sex again. The blonde then grabbed a plain white tee, not wanting to overly dress for the date, along with his grey suede shoes and began to compile his outfit. He thought the colors went well and that the overall outfit wasn't too much for tonight, and after he got a paws up from Kyuubi, he was pretty much ready. He did however need to let his hair dry while also styling it, so that it would dry into the style without the need for gels or other greasy-looking products.

He went back to the bathroom to style his hair which only took about 10 minutes, until he skipped back out excitedly to jump back on his bed while trying to figure out what else he has to do.

"Clothes, check. Hair, check. Smell... check!" He put his finger on his chin while thinking what else he had to do for the date.

"Kyu, do I look good?!" Naruto wanted her to be honest as he had no one else to tell him if he did or not look decent for the night.

_'You look **terrible**.'_

"I'M BEING SERIOUS!" Naruto felt like Tsunade on one of her titanic rages, especially after hearing Kyuubi laugh at his outburst.

_'I'm kidding around kit you look great. Why have you been so volatile recently?' _Kyuubi was concerned for Naruto as she'd never seen him as emotionally imbalanced in such a short space as now.

"I don't know..."

_'Come into my room and we'll talk things through.'_

Naruto nodded to Kyuubi's suggestion and entered a meditative state while laying down on his bed, going into Kyuubi's domain within his inner psyche. Kyuubi had her own personal space that was scaled down to Human size as she often invited Naruto in when they wanted a personal talk away from the outside world. Kyuubi often was in Human form when she spoke to Naruto, also for that same purpose of making it more personal. She was standing at the entrance to her giant cage waiting for Naruto to spawn before it. Naruto emerged in front of the cage and walked towards it, releasing the seal to let him in.

He entered the cage and Kyuubi led him over to a comfortable red sofa that almost matched the intensity of her hair. Kyuubi was an average build woman who was however quiet tall, along with having beautiful crimson hair just like Naruto's mother, Kushina, did. Her skin was silky smooth and completely blemish free, owing to the fact that she was a supernatural entity. She sat Naruto down and sat herself next to him.

"_Kit, If you're worried about The Manipulator or whoever the fuck he or she is, then you shouldn't be! You have the Amulet now and i'm sure they aren't going to attack you at a public place now, are they?" _

"Your right... It's not just that though."

_"What else is wrong then?"_

"I don't know what's gonna happen with the date, like what's it gonna be like after? Will we still be friends? Will The Manipulator-"

Kyuubi interrupted him by pulling him into a death-grip much like Sai's, trying to both shut him up but comfort him as well. Naruto stopped talking and hugged Kyuubi back, happy that she was there to help him even if it was just be a hug.

_"Listen kit, you'll be fine. You defeated Pain, so I doubt you'd struggle against some pussy who can't even attack head on! They only got you last night because it was a surprise attack, but with both of you it won't be the same."_

_"_I'm more worried about what's gonna happen at the date"

_"You're both best friends dobe! You should have loads to talk about so don't worry about that either."_

"You're right again I guess, thanks Kyu it's just that I've been unsure about a lot recently..."

Kyuubi smiled at her Kit but let him go to get breath. He got up and returned back to the real world while also keeping her cage unlocked so she could have more room if she wanted. He checked his watch and It said 3 p.m so he still had at least 3 hours left until he had to be by Kiba's.

"I think I always get dressed a little too early..."

Naruto got up from his bed and went over to the living room and plopped down on his dilapidated sofa, while flicking the TV on. He changed though the various channels and, like always, there was nothing on that he really wanted to watch.

"Wait a minute... I can get packing for tomorrow!" Naruto grinned like a crazed fox and bounced up from his sofa into his room to begin packing. He normally would hate to pack clothes and his other stuff, but if it concerned moving into his best-friends house he would do it a thousand times over. Naruto commenced with the packing but made sure to keep some stuff unpacked for tonight, his final night in his residence for Kami knows how long.

"I'm gonna miss this place Kyu."

_"What: this old, unstable, small, decrepit bio-hazard of a building?"_

Naruto looked around to see a hole in his ceiling, a rat scurry along his floor and also water leaking from the pipes in his bathroom. There was also a faint purple glow coming from his Kitchen, which was probably the radioactive bio-hazard she was on about.

"I see your point." They both laughed and he continued packing to help pass the time, making sure to talk about what to do for the night too.

* * *

"T-This place is-is"

"AMAZING!"

Kiba's chocolate brown eyes lit up like a Christmas tree at the sight he was seeing. Amatores was truly a marvel of a town, full to the brim with markets, restaurants, cafe's, houses and even a shopping center. Kiba remained gob smacked at the sight of such a buzzing community as this far outshone Konoha in terms of venue's for the date. Sakura was also starting to drool as she stood there just as impressed, however she was the first to snap out of it.

"This place is amazing! We'll find a place in no time, so let's go shopping for a bit!"

"Sakuraaa...?" Kiba turned his gaze to Sakura, making sure to look her in the eyes with his amazingly cute puppy dog eyes.

"What do you want."

_She's immune to my eyes, she must be on to me!_

Kiba sighed and decided to ask her straight up instead of sugar-coating his question, as knowing her she'll end up getting mad at him for doing so.

"I left my wallet at home so could you get something for the date? I'll pay you back obviously!" He quickly added, making sure not to send her off into a rage. She rolled her eyes and pulled him by the wrist towards the shopping center, intent on him getting Naruto a gift. Both teens browsed a whole range of stores and bought some trinkets from a few of them, as Sakura bought herself a new red dress and bought Kiba a puppy onesie, much to his annoyance at being referred to a puppy again.

Kiba was walking through the general gift store to see if he could get anything for Naruto, something that wouldn't cost too much but still make him happy. His wish was granted when he saw a small orange frog-wallet that looked like one of Naruto's summoned frog, Gamakichi. He grinned and picked the wallet up and inspected the price tag.

_I'm gonna have to make it up to Sakura somehow._

"Sakura! Look what I've found!" Kiba shouted across the store. Sakura rolled her eyes again and walked over to him to see what he wanted.

"You don't have to shout idiot! Ok what have you got?" Sakura's angered features where overcame by surprise as she saw the extremely cute frog wallet in Kiba's hands.

"You've hit the nail on the head with this one! He'll love it for sure, but let's see the price." Sakura held her hand out impatiently as Kiba was hesitant to hand it over, from the hefty price he couldn't be blamed. Ten minutes later Sakura was at the checkout demanding the manager answers about the "over-priced" wallet and that they were being subjected to"extortion". Thankfully her method gave them a 50% discount, but at the price of never being allowed in the store again.

"You'll never come back to the town anyway, right?" Kiba had to stifle a laugh or he'd really be in trouble from her, but she gave him a smile instead of the frown he was expecting. She really was unpredictable in his eyes, but a great friend nonetheless.

"The Town? Yes, but not that store, it was overpriced anyway! Now let's go find a restaurant you wanna go to for tonight." Sakura jogged towards the town center to see where the restaurants are at, with Kiba trying to keep up with all the shopping she made him carry. They found a road full of restaurants and split up on each side of the street. Their search criteria was a place with Ramen, followed by BBQ for Kiba, as Naruto was far more picky and would make a hassle if he didn't get his beloved Ramen.

"Sushi restaurant? Uhh no thanks... Vegan diner, are you kidding me?!" Kiba was loudly voicing his opinions of each eatery he passed, gaining raised eyebrows from most people around him. The street was pretty extensive, going on for quiet a while.

_We spent longer on the shopping then we planned, so we don't really have much time left... Wait, I got an idea!_

Kiba grinned to himself again like a mischievous wolf and bit down on his thumb, drawing blood.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

He slammed his bit hand onto the ground and a large puff of smoke engulfed the surrounding area. One would assume he summoned a huge monster by the size of the cloud, but it was actually just his inefficiency of the Jutsu that caused such an over-dramatic spectacle. The cloud faded and a huge wolf-dog was in the center, it was Akamaru.

'Arf! - Why in Kami's name did you bring me here?! I was trying to have a nap for once.' The dog growled at his master, able to shout at him in his canine language which obviously not many other shinobi could recognize, other then Naruto maybe. Akamaru would usually abuse that perk, such as through cursing and bitching about people that walk by without them ever suspecting a thing.

"Quit whining, I need your help to sniff out BBQ and Ramen in the same restaurant 'cause my nose isn't as advanced."

'Arf - I don't see a reason to sniff out food I won't be getting... and you call yourself an Inuzuka? '

Kiba's features turned sour as he gave the look of death at his companion. Akamaru knew how to ruffle Kiba's feathers and would often do so as his version of banter. However Akamaru didn't know about Kiba's insecurities about his clan status and abilities, along with most other people, no matter how close they were with him. Kiba decided to drop the evil glare so Akamaru wouldn't catch on, and he decided to compromise as well.

"Look I'll let you eat with us if you help!"

'Arf? - Us? Who else is coming?'

_Oh shit! I forgot to tell him about the date, nice one Kiba!_

Kiba internally face-palmed after realizing he forgot to tell his closest friend and companion of the date, before he invited him as a third-wheel to it. He knew there was no point lying as he had to tell him the truth sooner or later. The dog-boy took a deep breath as he was about to reveal his newly biggest secret to his best friend, hoping it wouldn't drive them apart.

"I-I..." _Pull yourself together, how the hell could I tell my Mom and clan if not Akamaru?!_

"I'm going with Naruto, it was meant to be..." He couldn't say those next important words, not ready in the slightest to confess to Akamaru, showing how terrified he really was of people finding out.

'Arf! - Are you saying!?' The huge dog had made the link, taking into account Kiba looking for a restaurant with both teens favorite food which showed he was taking Naruto into account, and also that new frog wallet he held which only Naruto could ever love. The dog looked down to the ground, thinking of what to do.

Akamaru whimpered - "You do know that being the heir of the clan means you can't be homosexual, right?" Kiba was surprised by his response as he didn't flip out on him, but he knew all too well of the clan's protocol, which was shared by most other clan's as well. He knew that it would be difficult, and he knew of the arduous trials he and Naruto would have to endure. All these problems raced through his mind, apparent on his conflicted face.

"I know Aka but this could be who I am, so we'll have to wait and see how the date goes, because If it goes bad then I won't have to worry about my clan position. But if it goes right... I'll find some way to make it all work out, believe it!" Kiba's toothy grin shone with luminosity, just as radiant and goofy as Naruto's. He also used Naruto's age-old motto at the end, which really showed how similar both teens are.

'Arf! Why Naruto? He stinks of fox and is annoying as hell!'

"Well you obviously don't know anything about him then, do you?"

Akamaru huffed and said no more as he was probably taken aback by Kiba being protective of Naruto, which the dog wasn't too keen on. The canine trotted off with its head in the air, sniffing the vast aroma's in the street to try and pinpoint the restaurant the fitted the criteria for the date. He galloped over to a quaint diner at the other end of the street, a few buildings down from Sakura. The dog barked for Kiba and he ran there with haste, worried that they were running out of time.

"Sakura! Over here!" Kiba hollered at the pinkette and she jogged over and went straight to the menu on the window by the entrance. Her green eyes scanned the menu vigorously, checking for Miso Ramen in particular. A smile graced her face and she turned around to Kiba and gave a thumbs up, much to his relief.

"Phew, that took longer then I thought! We better get back to my house or we'll be late!" Kiba jumped on Akamaru's back and patted his back to signal for Sakura to get on too.

"W-What?"

"Get on already, we'll be late if you don't hurry up!" Sakura took a gulp and mounted the giant dog, scared for her life that she'd fall off during the journey back at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour while jumping through forests too. She knew they had to get back so she held on tight to Kiba to make sure she wouldn't fall off.

"Let's go Aka!" The giant dog galloped off towards Konoha, with a screaming Sakura attacking both the dog's and Kiba's eardrums along the way.

* * *

"Well, looks like I've done most of the packing and it's 5:30 now! Better get moving right Kyu?" Anticipation laced the blonde's words, eager to get to Kiba's house already.

_'There's nothing else to do so your right, let's get moving already, I wanna see how this mutt will try and win my kit over!.'_

Naruto rolled his eyes at Kyu's protectiveness and went to the front door to leave his apartment. He grabbed his key and his amulet, checking if he needed anything else before he left for Kiba's house. He had everything he needed, took a deep breath, and left his apartment for his first ever date.

He felt the cold air nip at his skin, much like the day at the training field, but knew that today would be different, it had to. Naruto smiled and walked calmly down through the staircase towards the bottom of the complex. He reached the bottom and crossed the street, however this time not taking any alleys as he learned not to do so the hard way. The blonde walked through the market while ogling over frog-based merchandise.

_Keep moving Kit, I'm sure you'd prefer a puppy to a frog any-day! _Kyuubi snickered, knowing Naruto wouldn't catch on to what she was implying.

"You know I like frogs! Frog themed stuff are so much better then dog themed stuff and-"

_'Now i'll never get him to shut up'_ Kyuubi now regretted making that slightly sexual innuendo, realizing that Naruto could be very dense at times._  
_

Naruto continued to debate his undying love for Frogs to Kyuubi during the journey across the Village, with Kyuubi forming ear plugs half way as she was losing the will to live with his commentary. They almost reached the Inuzuka estate, this was it. Naruto saw the huge bronze gates and took a big gulp, trying to ready himself for the night.

_Ok, Compose, compose, compose! _Naruto internally repeated his faithful mantra to try and calm his nerves, as he certainly didn't want to mess up the date by turning into Hinata again. Naruto walked up the cobbled stone steps towards the bronze gate, telling himself to calm down though a variety of methods.

"I've been best friends with him for months now, It shouldn't be awkward... right Kyu?" Naruto once again asked Kyuubi for answers, hoping the fox demon could help soothe his nerves as he was really getting second thoughts now. Kyuubi invited Naruto into her cage while putting his body on some kind of auto-pilot mode, which wasn't too difficult as he only had to go up steps.

Naruto entered her living area and sat down on the familiar cosy red sofa, ready to have a one-on-one with Kyuubi before he entered into the unknown.

"Is it wrong that I'm having second thoughts?! I'm just freaking out 'cause I don't know what's gonna happen and I could fuck this up and he'll-"

_"Stop talking and think about it for a sec kit_, _everything is gonna be fine, you know that!_

"Well I don't really, 'cause what if he turns me away?!"

_"He's the one who invited you dumb-ass! I'm sure he's just as nervous, and I'll be here if you really need me too kit."_

Kyuubi took Naruto into a hug, but made sure not to replicate Sai as Naruto didn't need that to top things off. Naruto was thankful of her support, as he'd of really freaked out if she weren't there to calm his nerves.

"I just don't want him to be another Sasuke."

Kyuubi didn't expect Naruto to come out with that statement, but at least she now knew some of the cause behind the blondes anxiety.

_"You know he's a nice guy, even if he does smell like a mutt... I'd know if he was like that Uchiha bastard from a mile off, and from your friendship with him it's clear he really holds your interests to heart, trust me."_ Naruto looked up into her crimson eyes and saw they were full of compassion and importantly, the truth. He smiled at her and got up from the sofa, thanking her as well.

_"Now without further ado get your ass to the gate already! It's almost 6.p.m." _

Kyuubi banished Naruto from her domain and hurried him up, making sure he got there early rather then late. He picked up the pace slightly as he also wanted to arrive early, mainly so he could "compose" himself before the date begins. He reached the top of the cobblestone steps and was approaching the gates, waiting for Kiba to let him in when it was 6.p.m.

* * *

**General P.O.V**

Kiba, Akamaru and Sakura had just entered Konoha after their visit to Amatores, galloping across the streets while almost running people over due to the rush they were in the get to the Inuzuka estate by 6.00. Sakura had held onto Kiba so tight his face was turning red, so he managed to free himself by prying her grip off of him, making her scream however due to them still being at high speeds. They were almost to the Hokage tower, so they stopped to let Sakura dismount Akamaru.

"Y-You bastard! Why did you nearly make me fall of?!"

"Hey, you nearly stopped my air supply! Anyways I think this is it then." Kiba's hands were shaking slightly as his nervousness was starting to show. Sakura unsteadily climbed off of Akamaru and stumbled when she touched the ground, thanking Kami she made it there in one piece.

"You've got nothing to worry about, you look amazing and, knowing Naruto, he's probably more nervous then you so don't worry!" Kiba still looked incredibly nervous, which couldn't be blamed as this could change his relationship with Naruto forever, so Sakura gave him another piece of advice before she had to let him go for the night.

"And don't worry about it being awkward or anything, you both have too much in common to let an awkward silence happen, especially in Naruto's case 'cause he can never shut the hell up!" Kiba laughed at Sakura's statement mainly because it was so true. He looked up at her and gave his new signature grin, pretty much confirming he was as ready as he'd ever be.

"Good luck, but I'm pretty sure you won't need it anyway. Make sure to tell me how it went tomorrow!" Sakura gave him a last hug and waved goodbye, hoping her both her friends would find something worth exploring after tonight. Kiba waved back but then he took another deep breath and mounted Akamaru.

"I guess it's time to go boy, shit I'm so nervous!"

'Arf! - Quit whining, I'm sure It'll go well, but hopefully not...'

"What do you have against Naruto so much?"

The dog whined, "I've got nothing against him really, It's just that you won't be able to keep this from Tsume forever if this works out, you know right?"

Kiba could understand why Akamaru was hesitant and unsure on the prospect of him starting a new relationship with Naruto, mainly because his mother would certainly not take it lightly. She always looked out for Kiba in her own way, which was often ruthless or sometime inconsiderate to his wishes. She would see this new relationship as a "phase" or something that could be swept under the rug, and the reason why she would do that? He is the heir to the entire Inuzuka clan, so it would complicate things to no end if he were to "abstain" from carrying on the main family line.

"I know Aka, but as I said before, If this goes well then I'm sure it's something worth fighting for."

Akamaru couldn't dispute what Kiba said, as he had his fair share of relationships considered taboo by the clan as well. He once wanted another dog, Juki, to be his mate within the Clan, but she was chosen to be another dogs mate for the clan's deal with another branch. So although he disproved of Kiba's decision to date Naruto, he was dong it out of not wanting him to get hurt, not out of spite.

Kiba dismounted Akamaru and they both walked towards the cobble road leading to the Inuzuka estate. They both walked at a face speed as it was almost nearing 6.p.m, almost jogging to the compound but not too fast or Kiba would work up a sweat, which he certainly didn't need when he wanted to look and smell his best.

They fast approached the top of the cobbled step hill, almost within in sight of the bronze gates. Kiba looked at his new watch and saw that it was 5:55.p.m.

"Shit! We better hurry up Akamaru." Kiba didn't even want to be a second late, as he wanted to make a good impression and look prepared, not rushing in late on the time he himself proposed. They were nearing the gate but made out two figures by them.

"Who's that? One of them must be Naruto but..."

'Arf! - That scent is familiar, It's one of your team mates, that's for sure.'

"Which one? "

"I don't know"

"And you call yourself an Inuzuka?" Kiba used Akamaru's old remark against him, making the dog scowl as karma bit him back. They were both getting closer to the gate and saw that one of the figures had radiant blonde hair, so that must of been Naruto. But they saw long hair with a purplish hue, could it be Hinata? Kiba frowned as he had all kinds of thoughts enter his mind, hoping that Naruto didn't invite her as a third wheel.

They were close to the gate and Naruto turned around watching them get closer, his heart beating faster the closer they came. Kiba and Akamaru could clearly work out that it was indeed Hinata, and he was already ready to ask her questions to why she was there, politely of course.

They finally reached the gate with Naruto and Hinata, nearing the 6:00.p.m mark with only seconds under. Kiba was impressed by his time management skills, but was preoccupied with a whole assortment of other thoughts to be enlarging his ego.

"Hi Kiba, good timing 'cause I was getting bored!" Naruto greeted in his usual brash way, unsurprising to his friends. Naruto was determined to be confident, concise and able to construct proper sentences for tonight, while repelling Hinata's influence, which was ironic considering she was standing beside him.

"H-Hey Naruto, how are you?" The brunette was noticeably more nervous then Naruto, or at least appeared that way. Kiba told Akamaru not to interfere with the night as he wanted to make this his and Naruto's date, not between anyone else, so he restricted himself from getting help from his companion unless he really needed it. He then looked to Hinata who was quietly standing there, waiting patiently for her chance to speak as she was so overly polite.

"I'm good, but I'm hungry as hell so let's get to it!" Naruto said enthusiastically, putting on his impressive guise of unfaltering confidence to hide his inner nervousness, that was indeed very prevalent. He didn't want the conversation and night to get awkward straight away, so he thought that hurrying the night on to the eating part would drastically improve things, as talking at the dinner table was somehow always easier then in most other places for him.

"You're always hungry!"

"For a good reason!"

"Is that so? Mind elaborating?"

Naruto knew he had no real reason for being hungry 24/7, but he wouldn't let Kiba win, so he tried to change things around in his favor - "That's a big word for you dog-breath!"

"You're changing the subject, which must mean I'm right." Kiba smirked at Naruto's following childish pout, showing that things haven't changed for the worse between them at all. They always had little squabbles like this, but both came out laughing after as their friendship was often one of rivalry too.

_He really is cute when he pouts like that..._

"Anyway let's get moving already!" Naruto now said with impatience being more discernible then before, as his empty stomach was fast bypassing his initial patience and manners.

"Ok Ok, we'll be going to the nearest town, Amatores for the meal."

"Why there?" Naruto was about to press on about his need for food ASAP and that he'd die during the journey from starvation, but was unexpectedly interjected by Hinata, which was a rare event.

"G-Guys, I-I need to tell you something."

"What is it Hinata? I'm starving over here!" Kiba felt like bopping him on the head, but that could be an inappropriate start for the possible new phase of their relationship, so he planned on keeping that kind of touching to a minimum.

"I-I was told by Tsunade that you could only d-date in the Village..." Hinata looked down to the ground, feeling crestfallen for Kiba as he evidently spent much time planning for the venue. She prepared for a bad response.

"What?! Why can't we leave the village?!" Kiba felt infuriated, completely pissed off that all that effort of finding the perfect place was all in vain.

"It's for y-your safety! It's too dangerous to leave the village as we don't know if The Manipulator is working for a criminal organisation or not, and they could attack you outside the village!" She surprisingly stopped stuttering towards the end of her sentence, replacing anxiety with her steadfast belief in Tsunade's judgement.

Kiba remained silent and looked down at his feet, clenching his fist in anger at both The Manipulator and Tsunade for potentially ruining the date he had such high hopes for. Naruto saw how distraught Kiba was and deliberated on Kyuubi to see if he could suggest anything.

_"Kyu I think he only planned for us to go to that town, what should I do?"_

_'Well I would say suggest having it around your apartment, however it's a bio-hazard and you have no food good enough for a date... May__be ask if you could have it around his house?'_

Naruto decided to let Kiba think it over, as he thought that the brunette must of had a contingency plan of some kind. However Kiba still looked down to the ground, unsure of what to do as he had placed all his hopes on that restaurant in Amatores. He didn't want to ask Akamaru what to do as he was actually unsure if Naruto could understand the dog or not, so it could possibly lead to a pretty awkward situation if the blonde overheard their entire "secret" conversation.

The dog-boy sighed, knowing that there was no restaurants in the village that could cater for Naruto's picky needs other then Ichiraku's, but he didn't want to date there of all places, especially with the risk of them being caught. Kiba decided that the best venue now would be his house, but he knew of the serious risks that were present with it.

"We could just eat 'round my place for tonight? I can order in some Ramen." Kiba looked up the see Naruto adorning a huge grin, obviously happy about the Ramen part more then anything else, or at least he thought.

"That sounds great! But I might be feeling adventurous tonight, so why don't you just cook something for us both?" Kiba's jaw hit the ground as he couldn't believe two things: that Naruto was willing to try something other then Ramen, and that 'HE HAD THE NERVE TO ASK ME TO COOK FOR HIM?!'. Kiba was still shocked at this new change in persona for the blonde, until he noticed a sly smile from him resembling his cheeky and diabolical fox face.

_What are you up to?..._

Kiba knew he had to keep his guard up now in case Naruto would decide to wreck his house while his back was turned, perhaps using the cooking as a decoy. He couldn't find any other reason to why Naruto was grinning so mischievously, so he decided to brush it off for now, unless he really thought he was up to no good.

"OK I guess that's all we can really do... but you gotta listen to what I'm about to say, got it?" Kiba's voice turned ever-more serious, trying to show that Naruto needed to listen to him without making a joke out of it somehow, as he always did. Naruto's grin diminished as he looked into Kiba's eyes while nodding his head, showing his full attention.

"Good, now this is very important that you listen to me and do EVERYTHING I tell you in case something during the night happens, OK?"

Naruto rolled his eyes at Kiba speaking to him that he had the attention span of a goldfish, which was partially true in some aspects, but not in this case. The blonde dramatically nodded his head to give Kiba the impression that he was listening, and didn't need to be constantly asked if he understood.

"My Mom CAN NOT, and I repeat, CAN NOT see us eating together tonight, so if she comes into my house sometime tonight, you gotta hide." Kiba's voice began to quiver when he mentioned her paying her often-daily visits to his home, as if it was a death sentence for him or the blonde. Naruto raised his eyebrows at Kiba for putting so much emphasis on him hiding when they were only eating together, which they could make an excuse up for easily he thought.

"Why would It be so bad for her to see us eating? We could just say I'm having a sleep over or something! I doubt she'd know it's us having a REAL dinner together, ya know?!" Naruto's verbal tick appeared, showing he was getting annoyed at Kiba seemingly making such a big deal out of them both just harmlessly eating together. Naruto didn't think of this as a romantic kind of date, more like an indicator for their relationship, so he was telling the truth about it being harmless, or at least starting that way.

"You don't get it Naruto, my clan's traditions are complicated, and eating dinner with another male shinobi outside of the family is crossing one of them! We would get into a lot of shit, so you gotta trust me, or the dinner can't go on." Kiba could see Naruto was getting agitated, but had to try and persuade him as he didn't know if they could afford to have another free night with the investigation still on, so he couldn't delay the date.

"Really?! Well that's a stupid tradition, what a load of crap!." Naruto scowled as he couldn't for the life of him understand why a clan would adopt that. He always thought of himself as open minded, but when something infringed on someones choice in partner, lifestyle or sexuality, it would irk him to no end. However he began to realize that he just insulted Kiba's clan, his family and maybe him too, as he was so frustrated with the amount of precautions they would have to take for a simple night in. Kiba looked slightly hurt and yet again conflicted, not knowing if Naruto was insulting him and his clan and should be angry about it, or that he actually secretly agreed with him in that it was a wrong tradition.

"I-I'm sorry... I didn't mean to insult-"

"It's fine, I understand why it's frustrating for you 'cause this is probably the only free night we'll get with this whole bunch of shit going on." Kiba looked more determined then hurt like before as he looked back up to Naruto, giving him access to his full emotions along with his important words. Hinata shuddered slightly after hearing Kiba curse, not used to hearing him using such profanities, but she could understand with all the stress with the mystery of the rogue controller going on, along with the obstacles for tonight.

"But you've gotta trust me. Yes, It would be so much safer to go to any old bar or cafe in the village, but I'd rather it just be us tonight while eating, drinking and laughing like we always do! But I also wan't to spend more time with you as well, 'cause I don't know If we'd have many other chances to do so with so much going on. I want it... to be something to remember." Kiba looked into Naruto's cerulean eyes with passion and much determination, showing he wanted something worth fighting for, something this night could give him.

Naruto looked back into his eyes with just as much scrutiny and analysis, trying to figure out if Kiba was being absolutely serious about him wanting something "worth fighting for." He never thought that Kiba could show so much passion, as he was always just a prankster and always a very masculine and foolhardy person, often appearing impervious to emotions. He never saw such an emotional and powerful side to his personality, making him ponder that these last few days must have really drawn his true character out.

"That's... something I want to, so let's get to it already!." Naruto smiled and gave an over-dramatic thumbs up, showing his enthusiasm and Kiba looking instantly renewed with more energy, strengthened by Naruto's desire for their relationship to consolidate too. Kiba turned around to the gate and pushed it open, making sure for it to open quietly so that they could avoid his Mother's keen ears. He told Akamaru to try and keep his mother at bay if possible by distracting her if she wants to pay a visit, so he galloped off to the clan-hall where she resides. The trio walked towards the the right side of the compound making sure to keep a low-profile and slip past other clan members as much as possible.

"Kiba!"

Naruto and Hinata's blood turned icy cold as they heard the strong, bellowing voice of a female behind them, making them pray to Kami that Kiba had a good excuse to tell his mom. They all slowly turned around and saw a relatively tall, brown-haired young women walk towards them. She came closer and she had red markings like Kiba's on her cheeks, meaning she was definitely a clan member.

"H-Hana!" Kiba stuttered at her, his sister. She had a pony tail and her voice was not as deep as her mothers, so he already knew he had less to worry about, but still worried nonetheless.

"You and your friends having a sleep over?"

"Y-Yeah, we're just on our way to my house now."

Hana decided to first inspect Hinata with great scrutiny, trying to see if she recognized her from previous encounters. She first looked at Hinata and noticed her pupiless eyes and purple hair, guessing she was Hyuga, as she'd never seen her before.

_Not bad Kib, She'd make a good wife for the head of the clan if she's a Hyuga._

Hana's view turned to Naruto and she recognized him instantly, but couldn't put her finger on it. She continued to stare at him until Kiba was waving his hands in front of her gaze, with an annoyed Naruto behind them, pissed off at her rude staring.

"Oh right, sorry! I'm Hana, Kibbles sister." Kiba shuddered and Naruto held back a laugh, knowing full well how awful pet names could be. Both Hinata and Naruto introduced themselves but she put her focus back to her younger brother.

"Mom was looking for you Kiba, you should go find her if you can." Kiba turned pale as he dreaded to think what his mother had summoned him for. He knew that he couldn't afford to not meet her, but he decided to try and postpone it as much as possible, with his brilliant excuses.

"Here's the thing, Hinata's going on a mission tomorrow that lasts a month so we wanted a sleep over tonight, and knowing mom she'll call me out all night like she done before, so can you tell her I'm not here?" Kiba pleaded to his sister knowing that he was at her mercy. Usually she'd be a bitch and deny him, but with Hinata, his future wife as she so wrongfully thought, standing there, she decided to be merciful.

"Hmm, OK. But you better make it up to me!"

"I will, thanks sis!" Kiba hugged her and she sighed while hugging him back, knowing he loved to give hugs as a form of thanks or endearment. The trio walked off towards his house with him taking the lead, looking immensely proud of himself for getting them in the all clear. They reached his house and he went to get his key to the oaken door, which was notoriously hard to find at times. He finally grabbed it hiding in his pocket and opened the door with a loud creak, exclaiming how natural the oak was.

Naruto walked in and turned around to see Hinata still standing outside.

"Come in Hinata, you'll freeze to death!"

"N-No It's fine Naruto-Kun, you both need your privacy and I was asigned to w-watch over the location of the venue anyway, with the m-main entrance being a priority."

"My clan is enough protection, I can't just leave you outside!" Kiba interjected, confused to why she was so adamant of staying outside.

"I-I'll be able to tell you if your m-mother or anyone else approaches, and my Byakugan works more efficiently with no walls s-surrounding me, so i'll be better o-outside, but thank you for the concern." Hinata smiled and turned back around, trying to show the boys that she was insistent on staying outside to watch over the house.

Kiba walked back out and gave her his coat that was on his coat peg, making sure it was the warmest one he had. Naruto also decided to chip in with his bag of Miso-Ramen flavored chips in his pocket, which was slightly crushed but still showed he was willing to show his appreciation for her being there. She blushed, but not quiet as much as usual, maybe coming to accept the fact that Naruto and her where maybe just meant to be truly great friends after all with nothing more coming of it. She took the chips and coat and smiled warmly at both boys, turning back around to sit on the bench outside while now tucking into the snack, showing she secretly had a monstrous appetite.

Kiba let Naruto in first and closed the rigid door behind them, locking the cold air out with it. Naruto put his jacket on the coat peg but Kiba kept his on as he was still cold. Kiba asked Naruto to take his shoes off and he put them on the shoe rack along with Kiba's, then watching Kiba walk into the living area just out of the small entrance hall. Naruto subconsciously breathed in through his nose heavily and gave a satisfied sigh, not knowing what wonderful aroma that went through his nose.

_'You're gross Kit_'

_"Wait, why? What was that smell?"_

_'His sweaty shoes, you disgusting bastard'_

Naruto now realized why he couldn't figure out the smell, as he never smelt Kiba's shoe smell before. He was disgusted with himself for doing it, but it really showed that he sometimes had an undeniable attraction to the dog-boys aroma, even if it was in unexpected and pretty nasty forms. He shuddered and walked through into the living room, ready to inspect where the date was being held.

It was an impressive house. The living area had two dark brown leather sofa's, one was a two seater and the other was a three seater. They were centered around an ornate rug with the Inuzuka clan signet on it, really giving a sense of clan pride or reverence being central to the house and Kiba. There was a decent size TV, about 40 inches big, in the bottom right of the living area, with the three-seater opposite it and the two-seater closest to the hall looking towards it.

Naruto looked by the three-seater and saw the kitchen counter/wall behind it, showing that the Kitchen was linked by a walkway to the right of the sofa. Naruto looked in awe of the living area to Kiba's delight, glad that he seemingly approved of his new living space.

"This place is amazing! It's changed a lot since the academy days!" Naruto was still in awe at the difference, mostly because he probably forgot about it due to not being there for so long.

"Yeah, It was based off of my old family house before the invasion, but with some nice renovation obviously. And it's all mine!" Kiba told Naruto before that the Inuzuka compound would be built like it was before the destruction of the Village, so Naruto expected it to be like before without the renovations.

"All yours?! Must be the perks of being Heir of the clan!" Naruto sounded childishly jealous towards the end while putting on a playful pout, but Kiba half-heartidly laughed along.

"Well, it's not all perks." He sounded more solemn then before, making Naruto begin to wonder what he meant by that. He decided to press on as he was both curious but also concerned for his friend, not seeing this much insight into his clan life as before.

"How so? You got this nice house to yourself, you're sure to get a good position in the village leadership, and more!" Naruto saw problems with the clan's tradition, sure, but being the Heir means that he could become leader and practically do as he wishes, to an extent. He thought it was a good position, but he didn't know too well as his clan was eradicated by the fall of the Village hidden in the Eddies after all. Naruto sat down on the three-seater to try and discuss in a more comfortable position.

"We can talk over this kinda crap at dinner, so speaking of that let's get cooking, I'm starving!" Kiba smirked at Naruto's face of astonishment as he thought he didn't hear Kiba right.

"W-Wait, what? You're the one cooking, right?!" Naruto knew he could not cook for the life of him, as an abomination as ugly as the 6 Tailed Beast would spawn from the Kitchen and destroy the village for a second time if he were to try and cook something.

"Well that's rude! I'm no housewife of yours, so come help me cook Naruuu!" Kiba made sure to put huge emphasis on the pet name as he saw the blonde convulse on the sofa, ready to have a stroke if he kept hearing that horrid name. Naruto climbed up from the sofa and sulked while making his way to the Kitchen, already dreading the meal that he'd be cooking and eating.

"OK, you said you wanted to be adventurous Naruto? Well tonight is gonna be a ball!" Naruto stared death into Kiba as he used his own words against him, causing Kiba to guffaw at him being so grumpy at the prospect of cooking. Kiba knew tonight would be a way of bonding between them, but he preferred to have it in the most fun and light-hearted way possible, and making Naruto try to cook strange and exotic dishes would certainly be a way of accomplishing that.

"For tonight, I think Spaghetti Bolognese would fit the bill perfectly!" Kiba smirked at Naruto's totally confused expression, obviously never hearing of the dish in his entire life. Kiba knew that Naruto only knew of one food: Ramen. So he wanted to give him something that was familiar with the spaghetti resembling noodles, so it weren't too much of a step in culinary experience for the blonde.

"W-What the hell is that?!" Naruto finally found his words and was as confused as he looked.

"It's spaghetti, which is like Ramen noodles (!) with minced beef in a basil and tomato sauce, It's really nice and pretty easy to make." Kiba explained while putting extra focus on the similarity to Ramen with the noodles, which made Naruto's face lighten up with gratefulness that it was similar to his god-food in some way.

"Let's get started then! I'll do the s-spaghe?" Naruto tried to say that oh-so challenging word but struggled, but Kiba corrected him while laughing as well, making the blonde feel even dumber then usual.

"Right, let's get to it, Chef Nar!" Naruto gave a huge grin after being given his new nickname, without realizing that Kiba was obviously being incredibly sarcastic.

_He's cute when he doesn't catch on, I think I'll take advantage of his gullibleness... hehe._

Kiba knew he could trick Naruto with most things as the blonde was indeed very gullible, but he found it endearing and cute in any case, so he weren't going to be too mean to the fox-boy.

Kiba led the way with the cooking and generally done most of the work, as he expected. However he weren't unhappy with it at all though, as he had enough laughter at Naruto's attempts of cooking Spaghetti to make it all well worth it. They just finished up and Naruto was visibly exhausted by the entire challenge of cooking the new dish, surprised that real pasta was so hard to cook for him unlike his convenient, god-worthy dish of Ramen.

Kiba plated up the meal and was happy with how they both were, as there was generous amounts that was perfect for the two ravenous growing teens, as well and looking presentable and having all the right seasonings applied. Kiba tasted some of his to see if it was fine and he was surprised by how good the Spaghetti was, even though he thought Naruto would of honestly charred it somehow.

"That Spaghetti is good Chef Nar!" Naruto grinned madly at Kiba's compliment, looking immensely proud with his crazy grin and chef hat he got given by Kiba.

_He's so goofy, It really is adorable._

Kiba felt that reoccurring feeling in his stomach, making him lose his focus slightly and just daze a bit. He then saw Naruto waving his hands in front of his face and his focus recovered.

"Hey, the food's gonna get cold! Let's get it to the table already I'M FREAKIN' STARVING!" Naruto yelled in his usual rambunctious nature to try and get eating as soon as possible, as he'd "die by starvation"as he always said. Kiba picked up both plates and put them on the opposite sides of the dining table in the Kitchen Diner, lighting a cute white candle in the middle of the table. Naruto ran over to the seat closest to the living room and sat down so he could get eating, while noticing the newly lighten flame.

_'Is this his attempt of trying to seduce you? How pathetic, get to the rutting if that's what he wants!'_

_"Kyuubi! This isn't him trying to seduce me into his bed you idiot! I think it's cute and sweet of him, but I just want the damn food already!"_

_'You and your bottomless stomach never ceases to amaze me...'_

_"I blame it on you, I thought you were getting a bit bigger around the waist-line..."_

_'WHY YOU!'_

Naruto blocked her out to really piss her off, making him have to stifle a laugh to not appear mad in front of Kiba. He knew that Naruto could talk to Kyuubi, but the blonde would prefer if she didn't appear as the topic of discussion for much of the night, as this was his date, not hers. Kiba placed Naruto's plate down in front of him with the cutlery in a very organised fashion, showing he wanted to make a good impression in this case. Naruto found it charming but cared more about eating the food ASAP.

Kiba sat down with his plate and saw Naruto had already began devouring his meal, too hungry for table manners as shrapnel of some of his food dispersed from his plate across the room.

"Wow, is it that nice?" Kiba smirked.

Naruto snapped his head back up from his plate and there was red all around his mouth from were he sloppily ate the food and sauce without caution. Kiba laughed and pointed to his face to make him realize he was making a real mess.

"It... is so good! It might even be up there with Ramen!" Naruto had a face of elation as he might of found the secret to life, a food as good as Ramen.

"I'm glad you like it Chef Nar." Kiba winked at him and Naruto smirked again at that new name he loved so much, but he wanted to go back to the conversation he had before with the brunette.

"So, what we was talking about earlier." Naruto put his fork down so he could speak properly without spurting food in all directions, which Kyuubi advised was not really attractive of someone on a date, which he found to be sound advice.

"Why don't you like being Heir of the clan?" The blonde asked, as Kiba put his cutlery down too, looking like it was going to perhaps be more of an in depth topic then Naruto thought.

"There's... a lot of reasons, I mean I told you about my clan traditions being complicated, yeah?" Naruto nodded, listening intently.

"Well being heir of the clan actually brings more traditions down on me, so It's more complicated for me then it is for other clansmen. I'm not allowed to do a lot of things, say a lot of things or even think about a lot of things, as it could 'jeopardize the clan' or some shit like that." Kiba sounded agitated about his clan, and Naruto was starting to see and guess maybe why Kiba's always been touchy with his Clan and his mother too.

"But don't the benefits outweigh the downsides? I mean, you'll be head of the clan!" Naruto couldn't figure out why Kiba was so downtrodden about his position, as Naruto certainly wouldn't mind being a leader of a clan, or at least he thought he wouldn't.

"No I-It's complicated, I'll tell you more later...our dinner's getting cold so we better eat it then we can watch a horror movie or something." Kiba smiled then picked up his fork and began eating again.

_'Hmm why did he change the subject... He's hiding something Kit, but he did say he'd say later, just don't expect it to be all flowers and sunshine if he's putting it off!'_

_"Flowers and sunshine? You're very flamboyant for a fox-demon, but I'm more concerned about the horror movie!"_

Kiba kept eating the dinner with Naruto fast finishing his one too, as he already scoffed half of it as soon as it hit the table anyway. Kiba knew that Kyuubi often spoke to Naruto about things, so he also wanted to make a good impression on the fox too, but he knew that she was ruthless and that would be a tall order to impress her.

Both teens finished their meals and Naruto accidentally let out a huge belch and blushed, which made Kiba laugh as he too was a slob. He belched to match Naruto's one, making both of the slobs laugh in harmony. This kind of behavior is what made them both bond in the first place: being pranksters and just 'boys' in general. However this night was to see if they could bring that bond over to the emotional realm too, which they still have yet to prove.

"_He hasn't tried it on or anything Kyu, to be honest I'm glad he hasn't so far!"_

_'What? The rutting is what's worth fighting for, not taking it slow!'_

_"Kyu it's not all about the sex, he isn't like that anyway or he would of tried it on. I'll be here for another few hours at least so we'll see how it goes, but I'm still glad he isn't pushing for anything... he's just being his nice sweet self!_

_'Hmph, I thought you was crushing on him before!'_

_"I was, but that doesn't mean I want him to be a sex-crazed asshole like Sasuke! I wen't wrong with Sasuke by getting myself trapped with him without knowing what I got myself into, so I need to be neutral and see if Kiba really could be the one for me, we'll see at the end of the night I guess!_

_'Good luck Kit, and remember the Condoms!'_

Naruto knew she'd find a away of going out with a sexual comment, but It couldn't be helped with his beloved Kyu. Naruto stumbled of the chair feeling like he weighed a tonne after eating so much, with Kiba being a little more agile as he ate less then the blonde bottomless pit did. Naruto went to grab his plate but Kiba beat him too it, acting like a gentleman for the night. Naruto laughed at him acting so civil as he usually weren't like that with other people, but for tonight he would allow Kiba to do that if he wishes, as Naruto secretly liked it.

Kiba brought the plates to the Kitchen and got rid of the left overs by putting them in a hatch, which Naruto would be sure to ask about as he never saw such a contraption, then taking the plates to wash them up. Naruto took the chance to go to the bathroom which he remembered was upstairs. He told Kiba he was going in case he started a manhunt, then he went upstairs while still bloated out, trying not to fall backwards from being so unbalanced.

Naruto walked up the solid wood stairs and saw family pictures along the wall going upstairs, showing Kiba, his mother and sister along with their dogs, which totaled 5 as it was just their ninja hounds, not including other ones outside the main branch. He reached the landing and saw four rooms with two on either side of the landing, but going to the one on the nearest left which he thought was the bathroom. Thankfully he was correct and went about relieving himself while thinking over the night so far.

Kiba just finished washing the dishes and thought about which movie to watch with Naruto as he was terrified of them, which is ironic as he could face down S-Rank criminals while being less scared. He giggled at that Irony but his thoughts turned sour after thinking over what to tell Naruto later about his clan, if anything happens at all that is. He decided to get on with picking a good movie rather then over-think, as that always seemed to get in the way of things.

"The Thing... that'll be great" Kiba snickered to himself evilly as he knew Naruto would probably scream all night, even though it wasn't the scariest movie out there. He ran into the living room and opened a small media storage drawer next to his TV and looked through them to find 'The Thing', picking it out while also looking for another movie they could watch after, preferably something light-hearted to stop Naruto having nightmares over the whole night. He thought he would test the waters with picking out a Chick Flick, not only 'cause both boys secretly loved them, but so they could see romantic themes while together, which is sure to get them thinking.

He picked '50 First Dates' as he thought it resembled the current situation in some way, that they didn't know how much longer they have until one of them could be gone the next day, like the main character's memory did. He hoped Naruto would feel the same way, and see what happened from then on after, and cherish what they have or seek something more.

Naruto stumbled back down the stairs after his bathroom break and was still evidently bloated with his belly now protruding out of his top, showing how much he really ate. He waddled towards the living area and saw Kiba kneeling down in front of the TV, guessing that he was gonna put something on for them both to watch.

"What are we watching?" Naruto grinned at the brunette, happy that he decided to keep the night going when he could of just ended the night with the dinner.

"The Thing..." Kiba smirked at Naruto's expression, as his face turned ever-more pale and white like a ghost after hearing the name of the movie.

"T-The what now?" His voice quivered as, just as Kiba expected, he was already looking ready to faint at just hearing the name of the renowned Horror movie. Kiba once told Naruto that Horror movies are generally real and that watching them can cause the events to happen in real life, but Naruto was gullible enough to actually believe his joke, and has believed it ever since it was told.

"Just sit down you puss!" Naruto's eye twitched at being called that, as his pride was often paramount before all else, but he resisted retaliating and wanted to prove to Kiba he could watch the movie without screaming or being "a puss", which was however very unlikely.

The blonde crashed onto the two seater and thought he nearly broke it from all the extra pounds he's suddenly put on. While he was checking to see if he done any damage Kiba put the movie on and jumped onto the left side of the two-seater as well, nearly creating an earthquake from so much weight in one spot. Kiba pressed play on the remote and the Title appeared and Naruto turned pale again, making Kiba laugh at him already being so scared at just seeing words on the screen. They continued watching it while Naruto was spasming of fright, much to Kiba's laughter.

"AHHH OH MY KAMI! L-LOOK AT IT! AHHHHH!" Naruto dramatically screeched after seeing the Thing in It's true form, not expecting to see something as grotesque assault his eyes. Kiba too was scared but couldn't help but laugh at Naruto's drama.

"It's not THAT bad Nar AHHHH WHAT IS IT DOING?!"

"OH KAMI I CAN'T LOOK!"

Naruto buried his head into Kiba's lap without sparing a second-thought to it, too terrified to care as he thought The Thing would jump out of the screen and attack them. Kiba's eyes widened as he saw Naruto burying his face into his lap, thankfully not hitting his crown jewels or that could of really hurt. His heart started pumping faster from the contact but tried to think nothing of it as Naruto was obviously just terrified and dealt with it by hiding from the TV somehow.

_'I bet he's enjoying that Kit, keep it up hehe'_

_"Wait, What?"_

_'You're so scared that you don't even know you got your head in his crotch! Ahahaha I'm still surprised how stupid you are sometimes Kit'_

Naruto shot his head up from Kiba's crotch and was bright red and embarrassed, hoping that somehow Kiba was too scared to notice he done so. Unfortunately for Naruto he knew straight away and was also slightly red, but smirked at the blonde foe his blunder.

"S-Sorry I was, pretty scared... hehe"

"Don't worry 'bout it, you can't help it that you're a puss can you?" Kiba winked at him while trying to lighten the atmosphere and show he weren't bothered with what happened. Naruto pouted again and stuck his tongue out, making both teens giggle.

The movie went on and Naruto made sure to cover his eyes rather then bury them in Kiba's groin like before, to both of their appreciation to avoid that slightly awkward moment again. The movie finally finished and Naruto was visibly sweating from the anxiety induced from the movie, making him look slightly Ill too.

"I had another movie in mind if you wanna watch it?" Kiba tried to sound as innocent as possible to hopefully stop Naruto coming to early conclusions of it being another Horror movie and running out the door, but the blonde was still paranoid from seeing The Thing in his head, so he assumed it was anyway.

"NO! No more horror movies please can't we do something else other then watch a horror movie?!" Naruto pleaded with desperation.

_'Do something else? So he doesn't wanna go home yet, that's good!' _Kiba was making a mental note of what the blonde said, showing that he maybe wanted to see if something comes out of the night still, so he still had a chance.

"Well yeah, we can watch a Comedy movie." Kiba tried to not say it was a Romantic Comedy first, so he could hook Naruto in first and then tell him it was Romantic, in case it made it look like Kiba was hinting at something, which he didn't want to be the case. He wanted the night to be as smooth as possible while also testing the waters, so if he had to be a tad sneaky then he would.

"Oh thank Kami! I couldn't deal with another horror movie, so what's this one called?"

"U-Uhh...Fifty first d-dates."

"What? Ahaha are you being serious?!" Naruto broke out into laughter at Kiba's choice, thinking he was joking as he always would do about RomCom's and chick flicks. He used to call them "stupid" and "only pussies and girls watch them" as Naruto recalled him saying. He saw Kiba weren't laughing back though and looked taken aback by something, was it him?

"Y-You are, aren't you?" Naruto normally wouldn't of thought anything about a friend wanting to see that with him, but in this case it's different as Kiba never was like this before, so he didn't at all expect for him to be serious about this. Kiba nodded timidly and looked not quiet hurt, but no where near as confident as before.

_Crap I think I've really broken his courage or something, I better act fast or he'll be as timid as Hinata by the end of tonight!_

"That sounds like... a great Idea, let's put it on already!" He pulled of his shining grin to show that he was fine with Kiba suggesting that movie, so it could return to normal again. Kiba looked more secure and smiled back to Naruto, glad he didn't take it as badly as he thought for a second.

_He's really insecure by the looks of it, I gotta figure out why though, 'cause I never see him like this._

_'He's probably got a whole lot of issues under the covers Kit, and you're signing yourself up for all that shit!'_

_"He's my best friend so I signed myself up for that a long time ago Kyu, now shut it he's putting the movie on._

_'You started the conver!-'_

Naruto blocked her out again much to her impending rage, as he seemed to enjoy abusing his power of blocking her out at will. Kiba finished putting the disk into the movie player and sat back down beside Naruto, holding the remote control ready to play it.

"The reason I wanted us to see this was..." Kiba spoke out of the blue and caught Naruto's attention, who was now intrigued to hear what he wanted to say about it.

"Was because It's kind of like what's going on now with this whole shit-storm with The Manipulator, that we shouldn't take time for granted if anything happens." His eyes met with Azure ones and they both shared a chaste yet intense moment of connection, Kiba desperately wanting to convey his thoughts to the blonde boy beside him.

"I... understand what you mean. I-I weren't laughing 'at you' but it was just unexpected, that's all and-"

"You talk too much Nar, you know that?" Kiba smiled at Naruto's nodding, knowing full well that Kiba was right. Kiba decided to play the movie and save the talking for later, as it was already getting pretty late as it was 9:30p.m. Naruto weren't allowed to stay too long as Tsunade instructed Kiba earlier that day, as Hinata could only watch over until 12.a.m, meaning Naruto could get assaulted by the rogue again if it was in early hours.

The movie began to play and both boys were laughing already, lifting the mood and atmosphere straight away. They watched through most of the movie but both boys began to tear up when they found out about the young lady's amnesia and that she couldn't remember her lover the next day, which was understandably heartbreaking to watch. The reached the end of the movie and Naruto burst out crying as he never saw the movie before, so was extra susceptible to the sadness of it. Kiba almost cried too, but he saw it before so it was less dramatic for him.

"I-It's sad how *sniff* she forgot him so much, after all they went though." The blonde cried even more dramatically, causing Kyuubi to face-palm while Kiba comforted the boy by patting his back. Naruto hugged Kiba and felt so comforted by the brunette, secretly more so then by anyone else, that he could fall asleep right there and then. Kiba hugged him back and the blonde eventually stopped crying, regaining some of his composure from that rather pride-degrading and emotional moment.

"So, you wanted me to *sniff* watch that because we shouldn't take time for granted?" Naruto tried to figure out why Kiba wanted it to be the movie they watched tonight other then 'The Thing'.

"Yeah, 'cause you worry me how you're so reckless sometimes, and that you could of been killed last night... A-And I might not of had the chance to..."

"T-To what?" Naruto felt a buzzing feeling in the pit of his stomach, something he had only felt before with Kiba with the near-kiss.

"Follow me." Kiba climbed up from the Sofa and went over to the TV to turn it off, meaning no more movies for the night. Naruto followed suit and got up from the comfy sofa and saw Kiba walk back towards him, ready to see if he was ready to follow.

"You ready?"

"Y-Yeah I guess, where are we going?"

"You'll see, don't worry though."

Naruto trusted him so he nodded to show his agreement. Kiba turned on his heels and walked towards the staircase, starting to go up them at a slow and steady pace. Naruto walked briskly towards the staircase so he could be close behind Kiba, as he was already getting anxious and slightly worried about what could be in store.

_"Kyu, _where do you think he's taking me?"

_'Kami knows Kit, could be a torture chamber for all we know.'_

_"You're not helping!"_

_'Oh I am, I'm being realistic here!'_

_"Why a torture chamber?!"_

_'He could be working for the enemy, this is common for ninja.'_

Naruto began to get extremely paranoid about where he was being taken, not helped by the sadistic Kyuubi enjoying seeing her Kit panic over following the brunette upstairs, which she found was another thing to use against him in the future as proof of him being a 'puss'. Kiba reached the top of the stairs followed by the slightly shaking Naruto, who didn't know why and where Kiba asked him to follow him too.

He saw the four rooms again while Kiba ignored the one on the right nearest to the staircase and continued to the end of the landing, which was between two doors that they would be going into he thought. The blonde walked timidly to the middle of the hallway with Kiba standing at the end waiting for him, giving no indication to which room they would enter, making Naruto worry even more.

"Close your eyes before you go in and open them when I say, Ok?" Kiba asked again, seemingly anxious himself for some reason, which Naruto thought odd as HE was the one who should be anxious.

"Close my eyes? O-Ok." Naruto gulped as he saw Kiba grab a key out of his pocket and go to open the door on the left with it, just as he closed his eyes.

_'Under Lock and Key? And making you close your eyes so you can only see at the last second? This really could be something to worry about Kit!'_

Naruto began to shake even more as Kyuubi's words made him even more scared, especially with the fact of the room having a lock that only Kiba could open, which screamed out "taboo" and "secret" to him. The lock clicked and Kiba opened the door and entered the room. Naruto gulped again but walked to the room entrance with his eyes closed, waiting for the moment for Kiba to tell him he's allowed to look as he stood in the doorway.

"Ok, you can open them." Naruto opened his eyes and was astounded by what he saw.

Peach-orange colored walls covered the room on three sides, giving a wonderful yet calm glow that soothed Naruto's tired eyes, while the door-way wall was white, so it followed a white & orange color scheme. The room was pretty big and appeared to have another door to the right of it. He saw a beautiful King-sized bed in the middle back of the room, with white and orange duvet and pillows, being white on the bottom half of it and having a white/orange pattern for the pillows. To the right of it there was a brown oaken desk and cream colored chair with a computer monitor on it and, of course, a computer on the bottom left of the desk as well. There was a cream colored bookcase on the left of the bed with multiple scrolls and texts, which any ninja would find useful.

Kiba smiled after seeing Naruto's amazed expression and beckoned for him to look at the other door in the room, which Naruto wasn't as afraid of after seeing the beautiful and not-so dangerous room. Naruto opened the door and saw a wonderful en suite bathroom with an oceanic blue and clear white theme, which really gave it a pure yet vibrant scheme also. Naruto left the bathroom and didn't quiet figure out why Kiba showed him the room, although it was lovely to look at.

"It's really nice Kiba! But why did you show me?"

"Gosh Naruto you can be so dense, hahaha!"

_"I'm not dense! Why would he show me this room? It's not mine or anything!"_

_'Is your memory that bad Kit? You're moving in tomorrow, now try and connect those two very easy dots you baka!'_

Naruto's expression became that of shock as he finally realized this was HIS room for Kami-knows how long, which was wonderful as it looked better then his entire apartment on a good day.

"I-Is this really my room?" Naruto was surprised that Kiba would go to such a length to get him such a marvelous room, as it looked pristine and almost brand new, so he thought that this could of maybe been renovated for him.

"I'm glad you like it, I knew you loved Orange so I thought you'd be happy about that!" Kiba grinned at seeing Naruto's eyes well-up, getting emotional over the lengths to which Kiba seemingly went through to make a perfect custom room for Naruto.

"W-Why did you do this much for me? You didn't have to completely customize the room and change it to my liking 'cause I mean, I could be here only for a short while!" Naruto tried not to sound ungrateful, as he certainly wasn't, but he wanted to know why anyone would do so much for him, even a best friend, as this was far more then he would expect from anyone.

"W-Well about that... I, Uhh... T-There's a note on the pillow, I-It's the only way I could t-tell you." Kiba had a sweat forming on his face as he stuttered through that sentence, sounding just like Hinata and worse then Naruto used to be. Naruto felt buzzing again in his stomach as he anticipated the note to definitely be something worth reading straight away.

_'He can only confess his need to rut by note? He's the puss, how pathetic!'_

_"Be quiet Kyu, This isn't that... I don't know what it will say, at all. But I know it isn't that."_

Naruto walked over to the bed and leaned over to the pillows and saw a small white envelope with his name on it. His hands began to shake as he took the envelope and opened it, trying not to accidentally rip the contents by opening it clumsily. It was a letter, as he expected, which he carefully took out of the white envelope and began to open it, revealing a decent-sized content that he so eagerly began to read, not knowing what it could be.

* * *

_Naruto,_

_You're probably already wondering why I've written you a letter when I could just speak to you myself, which sounds pretty weird, right? But It's because I really don't know how to tell you in person, as it's something that requires absolute confidence, which I don't have believe it or not!_

_But anyway, I want to tell you one thing before getting on with the actual matter at hand, and that is I don't want this to come between our friendship. So if you agree to my letter or disagree, I still want to be your best friend, and you to still be mine, as that's one of the most important things I cherish, even though I don't show it a lot. If you don't want to remain friends, then I couldn't blame you, as it's often something like this that creates a rift between a lot of people._

_You know that I've never had a girlfriend, right? And I've never had a boy friend either, even though I've had people like Ino and even Shino (Yep, not lying!) flirt and try to hit on me, but I never felt anything, not one kind of bodily response to them, or even a mental one. No one has ever really messed with my head and body in so many ways, until I felt something for this certain ninja, someone who I never really noticed in that __way until the invasion of pain... you._

_Recently, every time__ I'm around you I feel something tingling in my stomach; I feel so different with you compared with anyone else in my life; I feel like I've met someone who I can truly consider not just my Best Friend, but someone who I hold close in my life, someone who I love to spend time with, someone who makes me smile, laugh and experience happiness far easier then I would do with anyone else. I think I've only just started to notice how wonderful of a person you are, and how lucky I am you're in my life._

_And remember that night by the Hokage tower? I felt all those feelings getting stronger and stronger until it was too much. I think I know what those feelings are now, and... I hope you felt them too._

_As I said, I never felt those kind of feelings before for anyone, so I don't know if it's anything like infatuation or just me being a hormonal teen, but the point of the letter is to show you that I do feel there is something between us that is worth fighting for, and perhaps something worth even more then we already have as friends, and on that note It's also to ask if:_

* * *

Naruto read the letter and noticed the unanswered question at the end of the letter, which made him desperate to know what it was, as his heart was beating madly from reading such beautiful words spoken about him from his best-friend, who he now really thought could truly be different from Sasuke, without a doubt. Naruto's eyes desperately scanned Kiba's brown eye's demanding the question. Kiba now knew he read the letter, and he knew that he was the one to ask the question not put down in the letter itself.

"N-Naruto, We've been through a lot recently and we'll probably go through a lot worse in the future. With all that's going on with this dangerous controller out there, It's not impossible to say that there's a big chance we could be gone by tomorrow for all we know." Kiba walked towards Naruto and kept eye contact, wanting to connect with him as much as possible.

"As you read, you mean a lot to me as a best friend, more then any other of my friends and even some of my family do. But in these dangerous times I'd like to be more then just a friend, I want to be there for you, care for you and protect you... as your companion. I-I know this could sound rushed to a lot of people, but we already know each other and we shouldn't take time for granted. S-So the question is... W-Will you be my boyfriend?" Kiba looked into the cerulean eyes of the other teen with pure emotions flowing from them, desperate for an answer just as Naruto was previously.

Naruto stared into Kiba's eyes with just as much compassion, while also trying to analyse them with his albeit paranoid nature, as Sasuke caused him so much harm, he needed to be sure that Kiba wouldn't.

"B-Before I answer, I need to tell you about Sasuke." Naruto looked down, as he knew he had to get this off his chest and confess this before ever going out with another partner, he needed to do this for his own sanity. Kiba nodded to Naruto, not questioning him as he knew there was a lot of history between them, and was curious to why it would play a part in his own question.

"You probably already guessed, but Sasuke was my boyfriend for a while..." Kiba always had an inkling they were, so nodded along without interrupting the blonde.

"He first was... amazing. He was always there for me, he cared for me and he was compassionate, more so then what people ever thought possible for him. But it didn't last long." Naruto looked further down as he became more emotional, not wanting Kiba to see his tears begin to form.

"He turned into a nightmare. He was so cold, manipulative and horribly aggressive and violent. A-And I couldn't escape from it." Tears fell from his whiskered cheek, hitting the wooden floor with a small splat that Kiba could hear. He moved over to him and embraced him in a comforting hug, hating to see him so upset over Sasuke, who he slowly began to hate more and more with each passing second and word he heard about him from the hurt Naruto.

"He trapped me... I was stuck with him and the only way he tried to separate from me was by trying to Kill me. He treated me like scum when all I wanted was someone there for me... someone I could rely on and he could rely on me, I mean, Isn't that what Boyfriends do?!" Naruto became angrier, hating Sasuke for being such a bad and hurtful person in his life, when he was the one who was meant to protect him.

"It is, partners are there for each other so he certainly didn't deserve you Naruto, you know that as much as I do."

"I-I know, but I don't want to be hurt by someone so close to me again, It was so much that I almost..." Naruto's tears flowed freely from his irritated eyes onto Kiba's shoulder, conveying all Kiba needed to know. That he would have him as his companion if he was what a true partner should be: caring, loyal and most of all, be there with him in his greatest time of need, which Sasuke didn't do, which scarred the blonde for life.

"That's why... I want to take things further between us... I want to be there for you with no barriers. I wan't to comfort you and protect you without speculation, questions and limits. I want you to be my partner as you're funny, charming and you'd care for me too, as I can trust you more then anyone else."

The troubled blonde looked up to Kiba's eyes and saw only the truth. He saw everything he was looking for, everything he hoped Kiba would be, a best-friend and caring partner. He knew he had to tell Kiba to let him know that it was a big responsibility being partners, and the brunette proved that he really was up to it, as he wanted to be there for Naruto, which Sasuke never did.

"T-Thank you... I'm lucky to have you in my life Kiba, so my answer is... Yes." Naruto's smile broke through the veil of tears smothering his face, he truly felt happy and content, like nothing before. Kiba smiled at the answer and took Naruto into a caring embrace, wanting to comfort the teen more the anything, as he could only begin to imagine Naruto's pain and issues with getting into a close relationship, and it touched Kiba that Naruto was willing to do so with him.

Naruto felt so warm in Kiba's hug, more so then he did before, probably knowing that Kiba didn't have to adhere to previous limits and could really show how much he cared. Naruto could melt away into the embrace for eternity, but Kyu interrupted it with an "Important Announcement" as she called it.

_'This IS a nice feeling Kit, but cheer up a bit and 'seal the deal' already, or he won't know the boundaries, which would be awkward for boyfriends now, wouldn't it?'_

Naruto knew she was actually right about that, as this wasn't exactly the most Romantic start to a relationship he expected, but he could only blame himself for crying. He let go of Kiba and hinted at ending the comfort-hug, which Kiba did, and Naruto began to lean his head in for a kiss.

Kiba saw Naruto begin to lean in and knew this time was different to the hug before, and that wonderful feeling in his stomach came back again, feeling oh-so strong and causing his body to instinctively lean in also, making eye contact with those beautiful oceanic orbs, loving the connection they both had just by looking into each-others eyes. Naruto leaned in faster and was the first to make contact with Kiba, relishing in the spark that coursed through his body.

Naruto's lips melted into Kiba's and, although there was no tongue or super-erotic behavior involved, it conveyed a whole range of emotions and passion for each-other, confirming that there was not only caring and emotional compatibility between the teens, but also chemistry, which Kyuubi obviously thought was the most important part.

They held the kiss for a few seconds and broke off, both slowly moving back but both having a goofy smile on their faces.

"Wow, I'm glad I had you for my first kiss!" Kiba grinned as he never felt such a buzz in his life, secretly eager to kiss those gorgeous lips again and again.

Naruto blushed slightly but smiled at the compliment, glad the Kiba thought of his kiss like that. He never had compliments from Sasuke, so Kiba already ticked one of Naruto's boxes that Sasuke didn't, which was a good sign that the dog-boy could be '_a real catch'_ which Kyu rightfully added.

"You're not so bad yourself, for an amateur." Naruto winked, wanting to lighten to mood after having such an emotional and tense heart-spilling conversation prior to the kiss.

"Heh, I'm a natural, you'll see why sometime." Kiba winked back, playing the same game as Naruto. The blonde smirked like a mad fox back at Kiba, not needing to be as shy or cautious around Kiba now as before.

"Maybe...It's half eleven, so I better get going or Tsunade will kill me as Hinata's gotta escort me back." Naruto smiled sadly as he wanted to stay with his new boyfriend for the night, but knew he would be there tomorrow anyway, so he didn't mind complying with Tsunade for now.

"I'll walk you home" Kiba reached for his jacket that he put on the bed but Naruto grabbed his wrist to stop him.

"No, I got Hinata to bring me home and you'll have to go back yourself which would put YOU at risk." Naruto looked seriously at Kiba to make sure he knew he wasn't kidding, as he didn't want Kiba to be hurt like he was the night before.

"..."

"I'll be here again tomorrow anyway, but make sure you have a good stock of Ramen as cooking takes waaay too much effort!" Naruto flailed his arms around which made Kiba laugh, emphasizing that Ramen was a necessity for a happy and functioning Naruto.

"Ok I will, but you gotta help pay for it, that stuff costs a lot!"

"Yep that's fine, but I better get going."

"I'll see you off, but I got something for you first." Kiba pulled the fro-wallet out of his pocket and held it out in his hands, seeing Naruto's eyes widen into saucers as he couldn't believe his eyes.

"F-For me?!" He slowly reached for Kiba's hands and took hold of the immensely cute wallet, cooing over it.

"Thank you so much!"

"No problem, I knew you liked frogs!"

"I'll have to get you a puppy wallet now!" Kiba sighed as he really disliked being referred to as a puppy, but if it made Naruto happy then he'd stand for it... for a while.

Naruto grinned at Kiba's response to the puppy idea and left the room with him behind, hearing him lock the door. They both went downstairs and saw Hinata still seated outside, which did make Naruto feel guilty for staying there so late in some aspect. But he couldn't of been Kiba's boyfriend if he didn't, so he didn't complain. The blonde grabbed his jacket off of the coat peg and put his shoes back on, ready to leave the house.

"Well I'll be seeing you tomorrow my boyfriend!" Kiba chirped, making Naruto cringe slightly.

"You're so goofy... It's adorable." Naruto laughed, making Kiba the one to pout now, but Naruto made it up to him and kissed him good bye while he pouted, taking him by surprise. The same wonderful spark shot through both of their bodies and they could of stood there for hours, but poor Hinata was freezing to death so they made the kiss short but definitely sweet.

"I'll see you tomorrow, I'll be around early-ish so have some Ramen by then!"

"Your version of 'early' is about 11 in the morning! There will be Ramen or if not we'll go shopping for some or something, but it depends if we gotta go back to investigating tomorrow."

Both teens seemed down at that point, wanting to spend some time with each other instead of hunting down some nut-job out for them. However Naruto grinned and Kiba took note, confused why he was happy.

"When we finally get that bastard, we can chill and eat Ramen for as long as we want then, so bring on the investigation!" Naruto pulled off his famous thumbs up and his grin shone with determination, infecting Kiba with the grin too.

"That's true, but anyway we need our sleep and so does Hinata, so get moving!" Kiba patted Naruto's butt to make him jump and get moving, which worked to great effect, while also making him blush madly while Kiba smirked. Naruto giggled back and pinched Kiba's ass for revenge, making him yelp. They finally finished assaulting each others ass' and Naruto opened the door and greeted Hinata, while waving good-bye to Kiba.

"H-Hi Naruto, how was it?"

"It was great! Are you OK Hinata? It's been cold out."

"Y-Yes, There was no sign of The M-Manipulator thankfully."

"That's great... Hey, do you fancy some Ramen?"

"H-Hell Yes!"

Both chronically hungry teens exited the compound and made a mad dash to Ichiraku's as it closed at 12.A.M, and it was 11:50, so they had to hurry. Naruto grinned during the jog, not only because he found it funny that Hinata seemingly had a monstrous appetite like him with her talking about getting 5 bowels of double-chicken Ramen, but also because the night couldn't of gone better; He strengthened his relationship with Kiba, and he couldn't wait to see what it had in store for the both of them.

**A/N: Phewwww that was a LONG-ASS chapter! I hope you guys liked it and leave a review if possible! As I said before, the next chapter will take a while like this one did, but if you REALLY wanna know how It's going then PM me and I'll make sure to get back to you. I'd NEVER discontinue this story, so don't think that's the case if the next update takes a while. This story is gonna be far longer then I anticipated, and I'm happy that's the case! I guess It's time to leave on the wonderful and mushy Naruto emoticon, Til next time! =^.^= **


	8. Chapter 8: Hunteth the Enemy

**A/N: Hey guys, just thought I'd like to thank all my reviewers and readers as you've helped kept me motivated! My last chapter was sooo big as It was just an amalgamation of work for quiet a while, so I promise I'll split them into more manageable chunks from now on! But I digress, so go read and enjoy the chapter! ^_^**

* * *

3 Days Prior.

Loud footsteps echoed though the long corridor, along with sounds of water hitting the floor and an eerie draft accompanying it. The footsteps became almost rhythmic as the person walked at an even pace, somehow knowing the end of the corridor was still at a considerable distance. The wind picked up every so often, unusual as this long corridor was well obscured from the outside world.

On and on the person walked, surprised how extensive it was, not understanding why there was such a need for its gargantuan size as there was no doors on either side of it but just the straight walk through it.

She saw a large double-door towards the end of the huge corridor, thankful that it was finally within sight as anxiety took hold of her. Being mere meters away from the door, her thoughts had become sporadic and chaotic, largely owing to the latent and dark energy within the chamber doors. She felt a twinge of uneasiness and almost regret for coming this far, feeling no good would be done by it for her sake.

However, she came here for retribution against the evil that supposedly resided here. Such a demon that she sought couldn't be allowed to live anymore, especially after all they done, and how much of a threat they still posed to the village.

She stood before the finely detailed brass doors, which had images of dark deities and other occult symbols depicted on it. She prepared herself for what she thought to be a battle she couldn't afford to lose. Her hands pushed upon the door, opening it slowly from the middle while making a loud creaking sound, showing how strong and resistant the doors were.

Her light brown eyes looked forward and saw only darkness covering the chamber, especially towards the other end of it. She walked cautiously forwards, trying to figure out if he was hiding in the shadows, ready to attack while veiled in the darkness.

"Halt."

A voice boomed through the vault, bringing the woman's attention to where it was heard, towards the back of the room as she first expected.

"You are entering my domain, state your reason behind this trespassing." The voice was clearly male, and sounded relatively young, but the woman had no way of telling who it really was.

"I've come... to avenge myself and your other pupils. How dare you think you could get away with toying with and destroying our lives, yet continue to do so with so many others?!" The woman's chakra skyrocketed and her fists clenched; knuckles audibly cracking as it pierced through the dead silence of the chamber.

"Hmpf." The male hiding in the shadows scoffed, clearly not intimidated by the vengeful woman.

"You'll pay for what you've done." The woman had enough of talking and entered a battle stance, ready to deliver her own judgement on her cruel mentor.

"**FIRE STYLE: DRAGON FIRE TECHNIQUE!"**

A huge roar of flames burst from her mouth and blanketed the chamber with the tempestuous flames, engulfing the entirety of the room with no mercy. The flames continued to rage from her mouth until she deemed it adequate to stop the technique, not wanting to use any more chakra the necessary. The flames eventually died down and she saw nothing, thinking that she could of actually incinerated the man with the storm of fire.

She looked around some more and saw no trace of anyone being there, but she looked up to the ceiling and saw a person staring down at her, piercing green and rippled eyes scanning the woman who nearly burnt them.

"Is that it? I think that's enough from you, mortal." The man disappeared from his very spot, causing the Kunoichi to panic while desperately looking around for him, hoping he wouldn't strike her down from the shadows. Her fears were however accurate, as he was about to strike her from the darkness, but she managed to dodge his Kunai which was dripping with a foul essence.

"Don't underestimate me!" The woman fired multiple shuriken towards the dark-enveloped man and set them alight with her fire chakra, making sure that if they hit it would end the fight. They flew at high speed towards him but they were deflected by a blast of energy, something which the Women thought not possible.

"Heh, still nipping at my heels are you? I would expect better from-"

"HYUHHHH!" The woman gave a battle cry and charged towards the man she so desperately wanted to kill, covering her fists with scorching flames, needing to fight him up close as he so easily dodged all her ranged attacks beforehand.

The man scoffed again, but let forth a blast of ferocious wind and a torrent of water simultaneously that completely blew away her flaming fists, while also sending her flying towards the wall, almost knocking her unconscious. She weren't expecting him to have so many chakra elements at his disposal, as he never had such power in the past.

Her vision blurred substantially after the impact, struggling to regain full clarity so she could fight him again. She heard footsteps become increasingly louder, almost too loud as she wouldn't accept defeat, she couldn't.

"There's no point resisting me, I won from the moment you trespassed this place."

"N-No, y-you can't be allowed to live!" She jumped up from the ground as her second wind kicked in, intent on winning the fight and avenging all those who have been subjected to pain by this man. Her fist was mere center-meters away from connecting to his darkened face, but she froze as her muscles were locked down, not able to move at all.

"You're pretty stupid, aren't you? There's no point resisting me." He repeated, arrogance lacing every word spoken. She looked up to his face and saw only the rippled green eyes, indiscriminate and cold malice emanating from them. All she saw was darkness from then on, engulfing her very conscience.

Green eyes yet again pierced through her very being, as she began to awaken while bound to chains in a different room, which looked almost like a torture cell. The green eyes were looking at her from meters away, no blinking evident as they thoroughly scanned her.

Words were spoken by the man which were first indiscernible, but turned as clear as day with her eyes opening in shock as a result.

"W-Why him?! He's done nothing to you!"

"Oh yes he has. He deserves punishment by feeling the truest agony, which you will carry out."

"N-No! I won't let you!" The woman desperately tried to unbound herself from the shackles but they were secured with no weakness, even being impervious to fire so she couldn't melt them off.

The man walked slowly towards her, becoming less obscured by the veil of darkness, slowly showing more of his features.

"Y-Your not-?!"

"Now fall under my control, mortal."

The man held out his right hand and a faint green glow emerged from it, slowly moving towards the bound woman. The green energy made contact with her and she screamed in agony, the very energy consuming her body with such negativity it caused the greatest of pain.

Her head was lifted almost supernaturally and her eyes were fixed upon the mans green ones, seeing the rippled pattern that was so hypnotic and other-worldly.

"Comply." The man simply spoke one word, and her eyes slowly turned from light brown to an emerald green, insidiously filling her psyche with his thoughts and feelings, while completely overriding hers.

He removed the chains that bound her and she fell to her knees, but this time was silent. He walked closer to her and stood above her, waiting for her reaction.

Her face lifted up and she looked into the mans eyes, not fighting him or trying to resist like before. She stared into his face with a solemn face, not showing any emotions of her own accord breaking through.

"What do you require, your eminence?" The woman bowed down as one would do to a Lord, and awaited to hear instructions from her new master.

"Hunteth the enemy, the supposed "hero" of your village."

"...W-Why?"

The man was surprised by his new servant's questioning, showing that her own psyche was still trying to fight for it's sovereignty. He slapped the woman hard around the face, sending her to the cold floor.

"Don't question my ideals mortal." The man barked. She got back up and nodded to him respectfully, walking towards the exit to carry out her master's plan.

"Before you go." He caught her attention.

"_Dissimulare_" He spoke in an unusual tongue as he waved what looked like a catalyst of sorts in a peculiar motion, which changed the appearance of the woman slightly. She also had new tools and attire, which the man must of formed to help her on the task.

"Now go. Attack any who are close to him, as he must feel such agony upon him." The man sadistically smiled at his commands, anxious for his new slave to carry them out. The woman nodded again, her green eyes clashing with his, as she walked towards the exit, ready to exact her master's cruel orders.

Even though she was following out the mans twisted orders, a small part of her mentality remained, still struggling to wrestle back control but ultimately failing. She hoped only for one thing, and one thing only.

_'Please stop me, Naruto.'_

* * *

Present Day

A messy shag of brown hair covered the puppy-themed pillow, its milk chocolate color being illuminated by the rays of sunlight entering the bedroom. The brunettes brown eyes flickered open, already trying to adjust to the sun.

The boy yawned, still tired but knowing that he needed to do some early-morning training at 7 am to keep his superior form up, not needing it to wither with such a threat still out there. He lifted his body up from the bed and pulled his duvet off of him, getting up and walking to the bathroom.

He looked in the mirror and saw his hair badly needed controlling, but knew he could do that after his workout and shower. He brushed his teeth making sure all his teeth were brilliantly white, wanting to impress a certain Uzumaki that was due to move in later that day.

Kiba smiled to himself of thinking about Naruto, and felt that same buzzing feeling when he remembered the kiss they shared the night before. His thoughts returned back to the workout however, as he needed to get that done then shower ASAP, so he could prepare for the new arrival in his home later that day.

The Inuzuka went into his garden and began doing weights, cardio and also target practice with Shuriken to improve his aim, trying to be at his best for both the threat at hand, but also to make Naruto drool when he eventually sees his body.

_He'll be begging to get some of this! _

Kiba grinned to himself as he inflated his ego, almost done with his intense morning workout. He finished up with the 100 laps around his garden, sweat visible on his every curvature.

"Better get showering!" He cooled down and went back in his house to his en suite bathroom and showered, also shaving and grooming himself generally to look acceptable for the public eye, especially for his new boyfriend. He picked out his usual leather attire and put it on his newly cleaned body, finishing up with brushing his hair for a bit then letting it turn wild as always.

Akamaru awakened from his sleep in his dog-bed and groggily looked up at his master.

'When will Naruto be here?' the dog yawned, wanting to get back to sleep as he was awoken by a noisy Kiba.

"A few hours, but I'm mostly done getting dressed so I'll get some stuff ready for lunch when he comes over, and make sure to say hi when he gets here!" Kiba pointed a finger at the dog on his bed, showing he was serious about Akamaru and Naruto getting off to a good start as room mates.

'Heh, we'll see, just keep it down.' The dog laid back down on his bed and fell back to sleep.

"What a lazy dog." Kiba muttered, leaving his room and making his way to the Kitchen to prepare something special for lunch.

2 hours later

Kiba wiped the sweat from his brow and grinned at his culinary success, knowing that Naruto would love it for lunch. He put the broth on a slight simmer to keep it hot and reduce it slightly, and was now just waiting for Naruto to turn up, which should be pretty soon he thought.

"Meh, might as well watch some TV." He jumped on the three seater and stretched his body, earning some satisfying sounds as he got comfortable. He flicked through the channels with the remote and found the local news channel, reporting a massacre in another country leaving thousands dead.

"Wow, It amazes me how such terrible thing happen, yet it's so easy not to notice." He was fast getting depressed looking at all the images, but knew right now wasn't the time to be sadly reflecting, especially when his boyfriend could be over any time now. He changed the channel to an entertainment one, with a TV show about 6 friends living together, which he always loved watching. Especially as he was reminded of Naruto again.

_Kami I'm so excited! I'll be with him 24/7, my boyfriend!_

The brunette's goofy grin came through as he was so fond of calling Naruto his "boyfriend", finding the term quiet alien but brilliant to say at the same time. He watched the show and laughed loudly throughout a lot of it, as one of the roommates began to sing "Smelly Cat", however barking from upstairs translated to "Shut the hell up!" by a very moody Akamaru.

"You get rude to me and you can stay around Tsume's!"

The dog could be heard whimpering and Kiba laughed evilly, knowing that was his ultimate trump card against Akamaru in an argument. He heard knocking at the door however and jumped from the seat and tried composing himself, checking his breath first to see if it was fresh enough. He went to the door and took a last deep breath and opened the door, showing a beaming Naruto on the other end.

"Hey Kiba!"

"H-Hi Naruto, got all your stuff?"

"Yep, but first."

Naruto smiled at the confused dog-nin and moved in towards him, putting his luggage on the floor as he went in for a much-wanted kiss. Kiba went in too and both boys closed their eyes as their soft lips connected, that same wonderful spark coursing through their bodies.

Naruto decided to take it a step further by licking Kiba's bottom lip, much to his surprise. The dog-nin weren't too sure what to do, but he opened his bottom lip slowly and let Naruto's tongue explore his mouth.

_'Hmmm he tastes good Kit!'_

_"Kyuubi, stop ruining the mood!"_

Naruto ignored her and tried to find Kiba's tongue, wanting his to dance with it. He found it and flicked it, trying to give 'Novice Kiba' the hint. Kiba caught on and caressed Naruto's tongue, much to the other boys pleasure. Their tongues danced around for a little while longer, both boys melting even further into the kiss, until Kiba broke for air.

_'You won the battle for dominance! Well done Kit!'_

_"Oh shut it Kyu."_

Naruto backed away from Kiba slowly and opened his eyes, seeing Kiba do the same as both teens smiled at eachother while taking a well-needed breath.

"That... that was great." Kiba grinned as he still loved the feelings of kissing the blonde, hoping that such an amazing feeling would never lessen.

"Yeah... It was." Naruto smirked back, glad that Kiba was petty much a natural at them.

"Wait, is that all the luggage you have?!" Kiba noticed something on the ground and pointed down to the tiny bag Naruto had held, hoping that the blonde wouldn't try to live off of that.

"Nope, I had my slaves bring most of it!" Naruto grinned like a fox as row after row of shadow clones huffed their way into Kiba's house, marching up the stairs with great difficulty to Naruto's new bedroom with all his luggage.

"That's slave labor... Good thinking!" Kiba grinned back, finding it funny that they both thought alike.

Naruto pulled off his cheeky pout/wink, like the one in the archives, but this time he knew he could get away with it.

"Oh and I cooked us some lunch, you're gonna like it." Kiba saw Naruto begin to salivate in anticipation, still remembering how delicious Kiba's food was the night before. Kiba grabbed Naruto's dwarf-bag for him and pulled him in with his other free hand, making him blush.

_"He's more of a gentleman then I thought."_

_'He only wants the D Kit, and it's already working on you!'_

_"I'm gonna form you a sex toy to keep your urges at bay Kyu."_

_'Heh, there's no point, I need real mating to satiate my needs.'_

_"Well your gonna have to wait a while longer then!"_

Their inward conversation was cut short as Kiba practically dragged Naruto to the dining table, then walking off into the kitchen to get the mystery meal. Naruto sat down and smelt a wonderful aroma, could it be...?

"Ramen!" Kiba beamed like a housewife as he walked to the dining table holding a big bowl of the divine-food, making Naruto almost drool all over the table.

"Y-You made this yourself?"

"Yep, now let's get eating! I have some plans for today."

Naruto grinned madly as he ladled the delicious homemade Ramen into his bowl, filling it up as he was ready to devour it. Kiba took almost as much, and began to eat with along with Naruto.

"So *slurp*, what plans do ya have for today?" Naruto grinned with a noodle hanging out of his mouth.

"Well I was figuring we could do some training after, then we could-"

*KNOCK KNOCK*

"For Kami's sake, *sigh* I'll be one sec Nar." Kiba reluctantly left the table and walked to the door, opening it while snapping at the visitor.

"What do ya want?"

"You better watch your tone, pup, or I'll want you punished!"

Kiba's face turned pale as he saw his mother, Tsume, standing at his door with little patience.

"S-Sorry..." Kiba submissively apologized to her, not wanting to anger the woman anymore then he already done.

"Hmm your manners have gone to shit! You and Naruto have been summoned to Lady Tsunade's office in half an hour, so get your ass moving."

"Y-Yes."

Tsume turned on her heel and went back into the Inuzuka hall, letting Kiba somberly walk back into his house to tell Naruto. He returned to the table and started eating again, knowing they still had time to finish their meal thankfully.

"*slurp* who was it?"

"My mom, we gotta be by Tsunade's office in half an hour, so we gotta eat quick."

Naruto grinned and slurped his meal down even quicker, savoring the delicious tastes as it cascaded into his belly. He finished and belched like the night before, his etiquette obviously not improving. Kiba finished shortly after but Naruto beat him too it, taking his bowl while trying to act like a gentleman in return. Kiba blushed and smiled, then went into the living room. Naruto cleaned the bowls in the Kitchen and went back into the living room where Kiba was now sitting.

"What's up Kib?" Naruto saw the brunette's face looked... depressed, somehow. He sat down next to him on the two-seater.

"It's just... I wan't all this with the manipulator to end already, I mean..."

"You don't have to explain, I know what you mean." Kiba turned to Naruto and sadly smiled at him, then unexpectedly rested his head on Naruto's shoulder. The blonde liked how Kiba wanted to be that close to him, so he wrapped his arm around Kiba's waist and pulled him closer.

"Think of it like an obstacle." Naruto spouted.

"Huh?"

"It's something that, if we overcome, will present only rewards for us. Think of it as a challenge, a mission!"

Kiba looked up to see if Naruto was serious and was surprised when he saw only determination radiating from his face.

"What kind of rewards?" The dog-non countered, not seeing how Naruto could find a positive in this whole situation.

"No more opposition."

"For who? For what?" Kiba still didn't quiet catch on, yet Naruto was clearly on to something.

"For... me and you." Naruto's Azure eyes stared into Kiba's hazel ones, showing the up-most seriousness. Kiba knew they had to get moving so he got up from the sofa and walked to the hallway, looking back to Naruto who just got up too.

"There's other obstacles, for sure... but I guess you're right. Let's take each of 'em down one at a time!" Kiba's toothy grin shone through and infected Naruto, who walked over to him and caught him in a chaste yet almost passionate kiss.

"That's the spirit, my boyfriend." Naruto winked, knowing that Kiba loved being referred to as his boyfriend, which was evident on his again-goofy grin.

"Let's go already!"

Both teens ran out of the door, treating this as their exercise that was planned, towards the Hokage tower in the center of the Village, which would take about 10 minutes on foot. They dodged everything from dogs, people and market stalls as they decided to race it out to the tower, with their old competitiveness as best-friends coming through.

Both teens sprinted when they reached the stone steps leading to the tower, and they were running at now lightning speed.

"I'll beat you dog-breath!"

"No you won't foxy!"

Both boys reached the top of the steps while still sprinting and looked over to eachother and were unexpectedly caught in each others eyes, both mentally cursing that this was the time they become "all connected again" as Kyuubi said, which was bad considering they were sprinting and could crash into something pretty hard.

*BOING*

Both teens were sent flying back to the top of the stairs again, as they both hit an extremely buoyant and bouncy object.

"W-What the hell was that?!" Kiba said while climbing off of the ground.

"There's only ONE thing that bouncy... I-It's-!"

"WATCH WHERE YOU'RE BOTH FUCKING GOING!"

Tsunade stood over the two of them with an anger vein almost popping out of her temple, looking ready to pummel the boys like she almost did in the archives.

"S-Sorry Lady Tsunade! We were just-"

"Oh cut the crap, I know it must of been an accident as that little baka" -she said while pointing to Naruto- "wouldn't of touched my tits purposely for a second time! We both know what happened then, right little dobe?"

Naruto turned pale and slowly nodded, remembering the first terrible mistake he ever made in his life: messing with or touching Tsunade's mountainous boobs.

"Anyway, get your ass' up and follow me to the office, I have a mission for you both." She definitely caught both the boys attention now, as they got up from the ground and scurried after Tsunade who was now near the entrance of the tower.

"A mission?! What for?" Naruto asked.

"It's probably regarding The Manipulator if we're lucky, we could take the bastard down today!" Kiba clenched his fists and grinned with determination, getting excited at the aspect of facing the cowardly enemy.

"I doubt that, she said she'd call everyone in for another meeting when we get enough evidence to make a move. So this is probably just a standard mission."

"Hmpf, I guess..."

They reached the tower and climbed the staircase inside, entering Tsunade's office and seeing only her within it sitting down by her desk.

"Hey baa-chan, where's Shizune?"

"Still gathering data on the location of Team 10 and Ino, which is taking forever as the papers and logistics were somehow scrambled, which is a cluster-fuck we don't need right now."

"How sure are you it's Ino, Lady Tsunade?" Kiba felt his curiosity get the better of him.

"Not very sure at all, like with every other piece of evidence we have, but we have to start somewhere. Now besides that, I called you both here for a mission concerning the nearby town of Amatores."

_Amatores? That's where I wanted the date to be! _Kiba felt something was wrong, so he listened even more intently.

"It's currently under siege by a band of criminals that attacked last night, which I think could be linked to The Manipulator."

Both teens eyes opened wide as they looked at each other, realizing that they could of been captured last night if Tsunade didn't intervene.

"Did you know this was gonna happen Lady Tsunade?"

"No, but I thought it would safer for you boys to spend time with each other in the village, which it seems was the right move. As I said, they could be linked to this manipulator, or they could just be brigands. But your mission is to eradicate them with anyhow, as the town needs liberating ASAP."

"Is there a reason why you chose only us two baa-chan? I mean this is an A-Rank mission I guess, so wouldn't more people be better?" Naruto asked as he weren't sure why Tsunade chose them two alone.

"I chose you two for the reason that you both are evidently going to be spending more time with each other, not only in personal time, but also on the battlefield. So this mission is also training to help you two better collaborate with each other in combat, as I have a feeling you'll both be confronting many enemies in the future together."

_"Hmm that's weird... what's that supposed to mean Kyu?"_

_'Kami knows, this old bat could be Psychic for all we know'_

_"_I'll be sending ANBU operatives as backup, but I ordered them to stay out of the fighting unless necessary so that you both could collaborate more effectively."

"Isn't it a bit weird your treating an A-Rank mission as "training" for us? And that you're only sending US into active combat, granny?" Naruto squinted his eyes at the Hokage, almost as if he was suspecting her to be the enemy in disguise.

"Don't look at me like that you little bastard!" Her anger vein popped up again.

_"OK that's definitely her!"_

"You're both Jonin level shinobi and you especially, Naruto, could probably handle them by yourself. This is a good opportunity for training and bonding together as better Shinobi. So is there any more stupid questions you wanna ask?"

"Yeah I'll-"

"We have no more questions, Lady Tsunade." Kiba held his hand over Naruto's mouth to stop him talking, which worked to great effect.

"Heh, well you both better get moving then, good luck!" She handed the gold-hemmed mission scroll to Kiba and dismissed them to fulfill the mission. The teens walked out of the office and Kiba let go of Naruto, making the blonde breath heavily as he was almost suffocated.

"You... You bastard, I couldn't breath!"

"Aw, I'm soweee." Kiba replaced the "R" with "W" and emphasized the "e" to sound incredibly innocent, while giving his beloved and destructively cute puppy dog eyes, which melted Naruto's very soul.

_"AWWW HE'S SO CUTE!"_

_'Oh kami, how sickening...'_

"OK, I forgive you... my puppy!" Naruto saw Kiba pout at the name and took advantage to go in for another kiss, probably being the last one until tonight, which was a sad thought for both boys. Their lips melted into each others and they felt just as magical as they did from the first one, hoping that feeling would never end.

Little did they know someone was enjoying the spectacle...

"I think I should take over from Jiraiya, I'd make millions from this kind of material!" Tsunade's perving eye was looking through her office door key-hole, scanning the kissing teens while she wrote down notes for a possible Novel she was planning, with her top-fans being Yaoi fan-girls like Sakura and Shizune.

"You better watch out boys, there's someone else coming after you both now!" she laughed sadistically to herself, already planning the best perving spots outside of Kiba's house for when they get back tonight.

* * *

**A/N: That's all for this chapter, I hope you enjoyed reading it! ^_^ This was much quicker then my previous update as this was shorter and easier to edit, so I think it's better if i kept it that way as it's also probably easier for you to read. Leave your views and opinions of the chapter in a review and I'll be sure to read it! thanks and til next time! (cute Naru emoticon time 3) =^.^=**


	9. Chapter 9: The Knucklehead Is A Lie

**A/N: **Hey there reader! Sorry for the long-ish wait, school and work are beating my ass! As well as watching Bleach, ohh goddd I'm so in love with that again :'3 I'll definitely write something on that one day, but I digress, this is Naruto! Haha :') I hope you enjoy this chapter :) Oh and one last thing, if you point out that this "isn't smutty enough", you obviously don't get the story too well, so demanding me to write more smutt in this meaningful plot (?) just aint gonna happen unless it's ready to be :) Read my other story if you want pure smutt (Ohh look at me self-advertising here hehe :3), ANYWAY, Have fun and leave a review if possible! ^_^

* * *

Naruto and Kiba had left the Hokage's office and ventured out towards the bottom of the tower steps, going at a fast pace to get to Amatores as soon as possible. Both teens had remained pretty quiet, their minds in conflict whether to be happy or not to liberate the village, as it meant that although they could practice fighting together, it also brought back the crisis of The Manipulator to the fore-front on their minds, which was undoubtedly draining.

They walked briskly down the steps and continued on straight yonder to the path leading towards the exit of the village. Naruto got bored with the reflective silence both boys were in and decided to initiate conversation by doing something quiet impulsive even to him, as he went to hold Kiba's hand.

Naruto's right hand slowly and nervously snaked towards Kiba's left one and his fingers brushed against them, causing Kiba to look towards the now blushing blonde. Both boys blushed, more so with Naruto, but the brunette decided to take the next move, lest an eternity of awkwardness would follow.

"I-I was wondering if-" Naruto became more like Hinata, trying to resist her dreaded influence but ultimately failing.

"Of course I'll hold your hand, my Naru-kun." Kiba blushed more fervently as he took hold of Naruto's now frozen hand, intertwining his fingers with the blondes own. A smile broke through on both of their nervous faces, but Naruto decided to start a conversation to help soothe his anxiety with all this contact, even though he was the one who impulsively started it.

"S-So I was wondering how exactly we're gonna "collaborate" as baa-chan said?" Naruto looked over to see Kiba just as confused, but hopefully having an inkling to what the slug princess meant instead.

"Well I'm guessing she meant we could train to become better at working together all in all? I mean, like getting to know each-others attack patterns, jutsu and stuff I guess."

"But where's Akamaru? I thought all your attacks are used with him, aren't they?" Naruto asked, wondering why of recent events his closest companion had been absent so much.

"He's been a real lazy mutt recently, but he's just wanted to spend more time at home now... I don't really know why though."

"But wouldn't that mean you can't use your Jutsu then?" Naruto impatiently replied.

"Of course I can baka! I'm just a little more limited, but I got some tricks up my sleeve, you'll see!" Kiba snickered strangely and Naruto eyed him dramatically, thinking he was an agent in disguise from his creepy laugh.

They both laughed it off and continued walking down the path to the exit, nearing the forest that led them to the besieged town. The teens had finally left the village and were now on a dirty forest road, both eyeing the surroundings cautiously.

Kiba's ears visibly twitched like a dog as he heard sounds of bushes rustling behind the walking teens, bringing Naruto's attention too.

"Who goes there?!" Naruto shouted into the wilderness.

"You really think that'll work Nar? God you really are a knucklehead!"

"Shut it you-"

Naruto stopped his comeback as he heard the rustling enclose on them. He turned around fully as did Kiba, both of them holding their ground as they were expecting an ambush at any given minute. Naruto pulled a Kunai out of his weapon pouch and held it in front of him, ready to strike.

"We'll say this one last time, who goes there?!" Kiba now shouted, also holding his ground while crouching into a dog-like form, ready to pounce.

The rustling intensified and Naruto decided to go and preemptively strike this mysterious person before they got to him. He ran towards the right side of the path by the bushes that were rustling, letting off a passionate battle cry that was pretty loud. His body disappeared into the bushes, warranting Kiba's worry.

A scream could be heard.

_Naruto!_

Kiba's protective instincts kicked in as he dashed towards the bushes, fearing that his boyfriend could of been kidnapped, or worse. His vision blurred as the foliage and bushes obscured his view, whipping and attacking his face with leaves and branches that left scratches all over. He got through the seemingly endless bushes and pulled his Kunai out, ready to charge who ever hurt Naruto.

He saw a strange sight though, causing him to put his Kunai away as he stepped forward slowly. Two figures stood in an open plot of grass, looking very closely stood or... held together.

"Naru-Kun! I'm so glad you hugged me first this time! My brave compatriot that you are!"

Kiba saw Naruto turning crimson-red as all his oxygen was fast escaping his body, which was clamped down on by the death-grip only one strange fellow could administer.

"S-Sai?! What are you doing here?"

Sai turned around to see Kiba looking at him, demanding an answer.

"Oh, It's the puppy! Still growling at rats nowadays?"

An anger vein popped out of the brunette's temple, however he held back a growl as to not prove the sarcastic artist right.

"No, I'm not. And let go of my Nar!"

Kiba waltzed over to Sai and pried the suffocated blonde from his grip, taking all of his strength to do so. Sai released Naruto and looked inquisitively at Kiba, who was now holding Naruto protectively. Naruto regained breath and complexion and looked up at Kiba, blushing at his protectiveness.

"Hmm, do you love each-other?"

Kiba and Naruto looked to Sai with utter surprise, not expecting him to say that. They both felt conflicted on the issue, as Love was always very risky ground in a relationship, especially as early on as theirs was.

"W-What?! No of course not!" Naruto brazenly shouted at Sai, looking ready to pommel him for prying into their personal life. Sai's face turned from one of confusion to passivity, getting the answer he wished for. Naruto turned back to see Kiba smile sadly back at him, showing something was up.

_"Uhh Kyu? Why does he look sad? I mean, there's OBVIOUSLY no love between us, it's too early for that! Right!?"_

_'People are always different Kit, so for all we know he could be considering that.'_

_"B-But I don't want that yet! It's too soon!"_

_'Stop screaming baka, he's probably just upset how you instantly denied those kind of feelings, when it was probably just to shut Sai up.'_

_"Well I was telling the truth... right?"_

_'You're right Kit, don't worry about it and just get on with this damn mission already!'_

Naruto snapped out of his mental chat and saw Kiba was now talking with Sai, while holding a book that he never saw before. He joined to two other shinobi and was intrigued by the book that Kiba was now holding.

"Uh Kibbs, what's that?" Naruto pointed to the grey book in his rugged hands, which had a picture of an Oak tree with the truest of green leaves adorning it. The book itself looked quiet well-made, and was kept in good condition to match.

"Me and Sai were just talking about suspects for all the shit that's been happening, and he had a good idea of how to narrow it down some more."

"Yes, as Kibbles said, I have a way or perhaps narrowing down the search! Or expanding it, I'm not to sure..."

"Huh? What do you mean narrowing or expanding it?"

Sai took the book from Kiba's hands unexpectedly and received a glare from the brunette, adding to Naruto's confusion even more.

"You both have to finish the mission. We can read the book after, as I'm assigned to be your back up thankfully!"

"Heh, the old bat really planned this through, didn't she?" Naruto grinned as he felt it was all somehow coming together, thankful that they had the tactile Hokage helping them out in unorthodox ways.

"Now, fly my lovebirds! Liberate the town of Amatores!" Sai flamboyantly exclaimed as he glided to the tree canopy above, leaving behind two bewildered partners.

"He, is officially the weirdest person I've ever known." Kiba looked up to the canopy, his mouth agape.

"Yep, that's Sai for ya!"

The boys eventually broke out of their trance and went back to the path they were originally on, needing to get to the Town ASAP. They walked along side each other while moving at a quick pace, feeling more secure with the knowledge that they had backup, so they didn't have to always check their backs as opposed to before.

Kiba this time decided to take it further, as he went to hold Naruto's hand as they were before. He grasped the blondes hand with confidence, surprising Naruto but making him feel pleasant nonetheless.

_I love how he doesn't mind doing this in public, well, with people watching at least!_

Naruto smiled warmly back at Kiba, glad he wanted to be at least a little intimate before the nearing battle. He clenched Kiba's hand tight, wanting to be secure in his hold.

"So, Nar." Kiba spoke out of the comfortable silence, trying to gain Naruto's attention, with the blonde looking over to him after.

"What's gonna happen after we catch The Manipulator?"

Naruto looked back at Kiba surprisedly, yet the brunette showed only seriousness on his features.

"I-I don't know... what are you thinking of in particular?" Naruto became curious to why Kiba brought this up, as it was pretty spontaneous when there was such a nice silence.

"Well... us."

Naruto looked to the dog-nin's brown eyes, taken back by this serious question that was so spontaneous. The blond turned his gaze away from Kiba and looked down, not knowing quite how to answer his question, as he himself had no clue what would happen between them after the crisis finished. He thought for several seconds, but thankfully found his words.

"It'll be the same as ever Kib, nothing's gonna change, believe it!" Naruto chirped enthusiastically back, trying to make light of the situation, which he was always so good at doing. Kiba stopped walking, causing Naruto to stop too.

"S-So you'll still s-stay with me?" Kiba weakly uttered, his voice slightly cracking.

The Jinchuriki's heart stopped for a moment, that same strange buzzing feeling also filling his stomach. His optimism being replaced with the feeling he still couldn't describe. His eyes met again with Kiba's, looking intimately into them as he saw what looked like... rejection, or fear, of rejection glazing his vision. But, there was also hope, which he saw in earnest.

"... O-Of course I will, you shouldn't even had doubted that, baka!" Naruto grinned ear to ear, his brilliant optimism shining through again. Kiba's face turned from anxious to somewhat a happy kind of shock, as evident by his response.

"Yahoo!" Kiba almost jumped into the air, all his negative thoughts beforehand being annihilated from the reply he got, "We're gonna have a blast Nar! We can watch movies, train together, eat together, L...-"

'_Sleep together... mwahahaha!'_

_"How did I know you was gonna say that Kyu? *sigh*"_

Kiba continued to ecstatically list all the fun and innocent activities the teens could get up to with Naruto living there, while Naruto internally sighed at Kiba's almost puppy-like excitement.

_Well, he's pretty darn cute though, hehe..._

Naruto decided there was only one way to stop Kiba's rampage of excitement, which was that he had to physically shut him up. But the canny blonde knew that there was 'better' ways of going about doing things, so rather then bopping him on the head like Sakura would do, he leaned in to kiss the blabbering brunette's soft lips.

"And we could mw-uhhh!" The stream of consciousness flowing from Kiba's mouth ended abruptly as Naruto pressed his lips against the brunette's, sealing that pesky gap that produced so much noise beforehand. It was only meant to be a quick peck to quiet the babbling dog-nin, but it escalated pretty fast.

Naruto closed his eyes as he moved his vacant hand to Kiba's neck, cupping it as he moved his head even closer to Kiba's, causing their lips to melt into one anothers. Naruto decided it was about time to move on from simple pecks now, as he brushed his tongue against Kiba's bottom lip gently. He knew for sure that Kiba wouldn't reject him now, so he was ready to take the already brilliant relationship they had and make it something more.

Kiba felt Naruto's tongue against his lip, and almost instinctualy opened his mouth slightly, allowing Naruto to venture into his mouth. The blonde's tongue tried to find Kiba's, wanting them to passionately mingle together. Kiba's tongue instead found Naruto's and brushed up against it slightly, enticing Naruto to do the same. They flicked their tongues against each-others passionately, both teens in an almost euphoric state, loving the feel of each-others bodies so close together, the warmth of the kiss binding them.

They both however finished the kiss, moving slowly away from each-other while retaining blissful eye contact, almost panting from the lack of air.

"Heh- I'm gonna need some more of that Nar, you're too damn good..."

Naruto winked at Kiba, "Oh don't worry about that Kib, after this manipulator is out of the picture, we'll have all the time in the world for it."

He grabbed the brunette's hand again and abruptly pulled, or dragged, Kiba forward on the path again.

"Let's kill those bastard bandits already! I wanna see your new moves." Naruto smirked at Kiba, who gave his trademark toothy grin back, as well as raised fist of determination.

"Let's do this Nar!" he replied with as much vigor, as they then both jumped to the tree canopy and decided to travel across it to get to the the town quicker, to liberate Amatores with haste.

* * *

"Whoa... this place, what happened!?" Naruto gasped, as the sight before his eyes was anything but OK.

Buildings were ablaze: screams being heard inside shops and homes going all the way down the long entrance road of the town. Some corpses were seen on the streets, even those of innocent children. Kiba caught up to Naruto on the last few tree tops before the village entrance, and was just as shocked by the sight of flames consuming the previously-beautiful town.

"Those... those bastards are gonna pay!" Kiba gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, cracks from him knuckles being heard by Naruto.

"Yes, they are... how in Kami's name could they do this?! All the people here are innocent! We don't have any time to waste Kib, let's fucking kill them already!" Naruto growled as his Iris' turned yellow, with his pupils becoming elongated and turning horizontal, showing his feared Sage Mode.

"Wait, Nar!" Kiba shouted across to Naruto, who was about to jump into the town and begin wreaking havoc. "We still need to have a battle plan, you can't just expect to charge right in on these kinda' enemies, I mean look what they done to the town!

The blonde sighed in defeat, knowing Kiba was 100% right about being cautious, not careless. He jumped down to the forest ground as well as Kiba, both of them plopping down behind a tree, hiding themselves in case the enemy got the hit on them first.

"So I was thinking Nar, I've learned some new elemental Jutsu that we could combine with your Rasenshuriken, It would seriously tear the shit out of 'em!"

"You have elemental Jutsu?! What element is it? 'Cause If it's something like earth then I don't think it's gonna work with my wind style, ya know!" Naruto found his statement quite funny, as he couldn't imagine combining Earth and Wind together without causing an atomic explosion from how incompatible the two elements are.

"W-Well... uh hahaha... yeah about that." Kiba broke a sweat and smiled nervously at Naruto, who now had double-face-palmed: an act of true disappointment.

Naruto sighed, "It's earth, isn't it?"

"Well y-yeah, but I'm sure we could figure out how to combine them, no?!"

"I'm not being funny Kib, but they are completely the friggin' opposite, so it would take longer then a 5 minutes pep talk to make a technique out of that baka!" Naruto bopped Kiba on the head, his face and whiskers scrunched up into a ball of frustration at Kiba's dense logic.

"Hey! I was just figuring, so maybe we should just learn each-others attack patterns for now then?" Kiba massaged the now growing bump on his head.

"That makes more sense, you silly pup..." The cheeky fox-boy winked.

"Pup?! You really need to stop calling me that foxy, or I'll have to prove to you that i'm a lot more then that..." Kiba growled with a sly smirk on his face, almost seductively challenging the blonde sage.

"Oh, is that so...?"

Kiba grinned and began to crawl slowly towards the sitting Uzumaki, almost imitating a wolf on the prowl. He closed in and was inches away from Naruto's face, looking into those familiar yet sill marvelous azure eyes. Naruto smirked and began to close in, breathing huskily to intoxicate Kiba, which was evident as the brunette closed his eyes. Kiba pouted his lips slightly and kept going forward, wondering where Naruto's elusive soft lips were.

"Are you gonna try and kiss that tree all day? Or do you wanna get a move on, silly pup!"

Kiba's eyes shot open as he saw he was in fact almost about to make out with a tree, as Naruto had slyly moved out of the way.

"Heh, I'll get you back for that one Nar!"

"I'd like to see you try doggy... now let's get moving already, we've stalled enough!"

* * *

_'Ohoho! nice bit of "playing hard to get" there Kit! Make the pup work harder to get you from now on!._

_"Heh, I think you're right, it's pretty fun."_

* * *

Naruto led the way into the town with Kiba just behind him. They broke into a run as they knew they had to target the main enemy force, as villagers could still be in danger, and they both didn't want anymore lives taken because of their lack of haste. Naruto sensed a huge chakra amalgamation to the north, made up of tens of rogue-shinobi: the main force, he thought. He turned right into an alley, with Kiba confusedly following suit.

"Hey, why are we are here? They're all that way!" He pointed out to the exit.

"We need to make a REAL strategy Kib, I sensed about 20 or more Shinobi that way."

"O-Ok, so what'e the plan of action then?"

Naruto grinned foxily and beckoned Kiba to get closer, so they could whisper the plans without bringing any attention from able-hearing Sensor-type shinobi. Naruto spoke extremely fast and quite, however thankful that Kiba has excellent hearing so he needn't have to repeat himself. He finished speaking after about only a minute of his drawn up plan, which he thought was ingenious if he said so himself.

"Wow Nar, who would of thought you'd have some brains!"

After another bop to the head and a lecture on how "The Knucklehead is a lie.", he let Kiba take the lead so they could let the plan work to maximum efficiency. Kiba ran at a fast rate to get ahead of Naruto, so that the enemy thought he was their only opponent. He spotted a large group of about 20 shinobi, showing how accurate Naruto's sage-mode is at spotting chakra. He became ever closer, grabbing his Kunai from his pouch in preparation for the enemies ahead. He finally was in their sight, as he started shouting to get their full attention.

"HEY, BASTARDS! YAHOOOOO!"

Kiba's blatant shouting done as planned, and the enemy shinobi drew what looked like Katana's from the scabbards, and began to charge Kiba.

_Katana's?! Crap they really do mean business... I can't let those hit me!_

He ran towards the charging group and focused chakra to his feet, then just before being run over by the mob, he leaped above them and retained his balance while falling quite gracefully behind the group. He blew raspberries to piss them off even more, which also worked as they began shouting and running even more aggressively, wanting to chop Kiba into confetti.

_Heh, it's working so far, now I just gotta lead them to a dead-end._

Kiba ran as fast as he could to keep ahead of the equally fast group of shinobi, turning into various alley-ways, eventually finding a dead-end.

_Perfect_

Kiba stopped dramatically at the dead-end, pretending to be distressed at having no way out. He turned around, seeing the mob scoffing at his supposed stupidity, while closing in to attack him.

"Looks like this is that dog-brat we were ordered to capture, heh... I think you'll still live without an arm or two though!" The voice of a gruff woman who led the mob snarled, closing in and was meters away from him.

"Naruto, now!"

"What?! Who the he-ahhhhhhh!" The woman covered her ears as she was almost deafened by a screeching sound of pure energy behind her and the mob, she turned around to see a huge spiraling sphere of energy on top of a blonde boy's arm.

**"Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!" *** "Earth Style: Self-Burial!"**

Kiba sunk under the concrete ground just in time, as Naruto's Rasenshuriken went cascading towards the mob, but somehow went flinging off to the sky above their heads, as it looked like it misfired.

"You missed?! Ha! Is that all you go-"

"Just kidding! DIE YOU BASTARDS!" Naruto attached a chakra sting to the Rasenshuriken and pulled it back down to earth, literally, as it expanded and consumed the entire alley-way with it's pure wind energy, with screams of the previously cocky woman now being tore to shreds by its energy. The jutsu ceased after about a minute of Tornado forces, as the mob inside were definitely finished now.

Naruto walked into the now decimated alley and was looking for any hint of Kiba, as he worried he might not of buried himself deep enough to get out of the blast fully.

"Kiba, Kiba! You can come out now!" He called, but there was no sign of the dog-boy.

"This isn't funny Kiba! Where are you-ohhhh!" Naruto finished his sentence as he face-planted the concrete, having been tripped over by something grabbing his leg.

"Hahahaha! Got you back, see!" Kiba emerged from the ground in front of Naruto's face and landed elegantly on his feet, brushing off the dirt and mud from his shoulders.

"Y-Yoo bawsturd!" Naruto mumbled from the ground, then raising his head to see a peculiar object in front of his face.

"Hehe you got what you deserved foxy! An-... W-What are you looking at?" Kiba looked down to see Naruto staring at something under his legs, he moved backwards a bit and looked down, and saw what looked like a strange pendant or amulet of sorts.

"What's that Nar?"

Naruto grabbed the broken pendant and stood back up, showing Kiba it too to see if it was his that he might of dropped.

"Is this yours Kib?"

"N-No, it looks ancient..."

"I think that's where I almost disintegrated it with the Rasenshuriken, hehe... but I feel a strange chakra coming from this, it's... like the Manipulator's in a way."

"R-Really?! How'd ya know?"

"Well It feels like the chakra from when you was possessed, so it could be linked... as this was probably held by one of the shinobi that I killed."

"That kinda makes sense I guess... we should head back to Tsunade's office and get the payment, and maybe ask her to take a look at this thing."

"Yeah you're right Kib, she's got experience with this kind of crap, so we can kill two birds with one stone with this!"

Naruto and Kiba finished brushing off the dirt, debris and other unsightly objects attached to their clothes, and decided to try and detect anymore chakra signatures of enemies nearby. Naruto detected none, and so they went to contact the support squad assigned to them to help the wounded civilians while they went back to Tsunade to report their findings. Kiba called Sai and the artist appeared, also handing over the book he promised, containing the Data of Teachers to help broaden the investigation. After a few death-hugs and growling, Sai took his orders by Kiba to help clean up the town and help mend the wounded, which he tended to straight away.

The two teens finally thought it was about time to leave the destroyed village, but were glad to see that water-style users had already began to douse the flames as soon as they left for the forest.

The sky darkened, and rain began to pour as if Kami herself was infuriated at the destruction of such an innocent village, frustrated by Humanities mistakes that they constantly repeated. The rain assaulted the roads that the boys walked upon, making it slightly difficult to walk. They both however couldn't care less of the angered skies, as their hands were again intertwined, and in their other hands they held two new items to help them track down the elusive Manipulator.

**A/N:** Well there it was! As I said before, I apologize for the wait, but if I was to try and get it out any quicker it would of been obviously choppy and rushed, which I don't plan on doing anytime soon! Leave a review if you can, but as I said before: if I see anyone demanding more Yaoi-sex, just for the sake of it, don't expect me to listen one-bit! hehe read my other story for that ;D till next time =^.^=


	10. Chapter 10: A Cruel Kind Of Game

A/N: Hey there reader! Long time no see! hehe yep I've just come back from my Hiatus! Woo! Ok, maybe I'm the only excited one here T_T haha ANYWAY here's a new chapter for you! It's not massively chunky or big, but It's kind of a part 1 of 2 concerning the current situation, which you'll see after you get reading! I hope you enjoy the chapter and, as always, feel free to review, I appreciate all of them! :)

* * *

"L-Lady Tsunade! I-I..." Shizune burst through the door, skipping all formalities, showing something was definitely wrong. Tsunade's head shot up from her desk, her red cheeks and drunken expression quickly evaporating after hearing Shizune's breathless voice.

"What is it Shizune?!" Tsunade was sober in seconds, as she thought of all the worst case scenarios that could happen in the village, which was most certainly a lot.

"I-I... I..." Shizune couldn't speak with so much panic engulfing her mind, so Tsunade walked up to her and gently pulled her towards the seat by the right side of the room, close to her desk. Normally Tsunade would punch or slap the panic out of people, but she knew that it would take a lot to cause such panic in her apprentice.

"Shizune, what is it?" Tsunade said with a quiet urgency.

_She's almost hyperventilating... and she can't even speak! By Kami I hope that this isn't as serious as she's letting it on to be._

"H-Hinata... s-she was."

"She was what Shizune? Tell me!"

Tsunade was losing patience with her apprentice, knowing that this was now serious after hearing Hinata being mentioned in such a sorrowed voice. She was taken by surprise however when Shizune pulled what looked like a note out of her jacket pocket, which was crumpled up slightly. She slowly handed it towards Tsunade, giving her the hint that the note told of what happened.

_A note? Could it be Hinata's?_

Tsunade's thoughts kept racing through her mind while being given the note, all of them coming to horrific and negative conclusions, which she thought would be hard to break it to Naruto and Kiba when they come back either way. She pulled the note closer to her face and began to inspect it.

* * *

_Hokage,_

_In case you haven't already been notified, I have taken the liberty to construct a letter to inform you otherwise, but with as much simplistic language as possible, knowing that your drunken habits tend to limit your cognitive function._

_You probably already know who I am, correct? Well I'm glad that I'm always on your mind, as you must constantly be trying to figure out how I cause so much chaos in your pathetic shinobi ranks. However I can speak of my success' another time, for the purpose of the note is:_

_The Hyuga girl is now in my possession. _

_She's been awfully unwilling to part with any knowledge on those two faggots, which made the rehabilitation all the more fulfilling. But I'll give you a chance, just this once, to try and get her back._

_Is this some sort of game, you may be thinking? Well of course it is, as even I need to have fun once in a while. And by watching this Hyuga girl come ever closer to torturous death, it does the job __excellently._

_You have 48 hours until I murder the girl, so you have to find where we are before then if you want any chance of her life remaining. If it's just you, the faggots, or the whole shinobi army you send, it doesn't matter. _

_A.M, A.K.A The Manipulator_

* * *

...

"L-Lady Tsunade?" Shizune was desperate to know what Tsunade planned on doing, as time was against them.

...

No response was heard, as Tsunade looked like she was in a deep, almost hypnotic, state of thought, trying to make sense of all she just read.

...

The pregnant silence continued for what seemed like an eternity: Tsunade still staring at the note with a solemn expression, thinking ever so deeply.

"Shizune." The Hokage finally broke the silence, her voice now stern.

"Y-Yes Lady Tsunade!"

"Summon Sakura, Sai, Tenten and Neji ASAP. We'll brief them on the situation while Naruto and Kiba finish their mission."

"Neji and Tenten? They don't know about The Manipulator though! A-And they wont be protected, right?!"

"Baka! Don't you think I've thought this through? I had 4 more Senju Amulets constructed in case they were needed. As I just said, we'll have time to brief them, especially if you didn't waste more time by asking such foolish questions! Now get to it!"

"H-Hai!"

Tsunade's anger vein reduced and she walked over to the bookshelf to unlock the secret meeting room. She heard Shizune scurry out of the Office to gather the chosen Shinobi, all of which were handpicked to perform specific roles, which she'd allocate during the so-called "Rescue Briefing". She walked into the Meeting room and began to prepare for the arrival of the others, while also thinking heavily about trying to find out where The Manipulator was keeping Hinata.

* * *

10 minutes before

Kiba and Naruto were walking back to Konoha on the forest path, both of them largely silent as they enjoyed the rare moment of respite they needed. Their hands where in each-others, while their off-hands were holding the crucial clues: the Databook and broken Pendant to help track down the elusive Manipulator.

Naruto looked over to Kiba on his right, scanning his face by the corner of his eye while trying not to be noticed. He couldn't get enough of Kiba's olive-toned complexion, and felt mesmerized by his gorgeous brown eyes even more.

"Well aren't you a little perv, eh Nar?"

Kiba looked over to Naruto with a cocky grin, proud of himself for calling out Naruto's secretive staring. Naruto blushed and turned his head in the other direction, while looking almost like a sulking child.

"Hmpf! I was just looking at the mud on your face, baka!"

Kiba let go of Naruto's hand and lifted his shirt, using it as a make-shift cloth to wipe the supposed dirt from his face. His 6-pack was on show for Naruto to see, and with the beautiful lightly tanned skin to match, Naruto's mind turned as dirty as a sewer for a moment.

"Is it gone?"

"Y-Yeah..."

Kiba gave a confused look to Naruto, not yet sure why he was acting shy all of a sudden.

"Can we get going now?" Naruto said as he walked forward, trying to move along from the steamy situation.

"Yeah... Wait a sec, I know what's going on my Naruuu..."

Naruto's face turned crimson, however glad that he was facing in the other direction from Kiba, so he couldn't ridicule him even more for it. Naruto repeated the trusty "Compose & Control" in his head, while being instructed by Kyuubi that "_the mating is best alfresco! Go rut with him now Kit, and show your dominance!" , _Which resulted in her being locked in the cage again. Naruto's blush calmed as he repeated his mantra, and turned around to face the now seemingly horny Kiba.

_OK, I gotta relax! I can't afford to succumb to his approaches, not out in the forest where people can see!_

Naruto saw Kiba smirking wolfishly at him, which only made the dog-nin look even more sexy.

"I know what's going on Nar..." Kiba began to lift up his shirt, slowly, almost tortuously, revealing his olive-toned six pack again to Naruto. Beads of sweat glistened on his abs from the humid heat.

_Oh god, resist! Resist!_

"You're jealous that I have a 6-pack! Hahaha!"

_Wait, WHAT?!_

Naruto's jaw dropped while Kiba was laughing hysterically, clearly under the impression that Naruto was timid after seeing his abs due to being self-conscious.

"He..he... ahh don't worry Nar! If you keep training as much as me, one day you'll get a 6-pack! There's no need to be self-conscious Naruuu!" Kiba put his arm over Naruto's shoulder, while trying to get his breath back from laughing so much. Naruto's had to fight the urge to headbutt him, as Kiba clearly got the wrong impression from Naruto's response.

_"Well, he really IS a baka...but I guess it's better then if he was to make a move on me, right Kyu?"_

_'Yeah you said it Kit, you wouldn't have been able to handle his approaches, you little whore.'_

_"Shut it Kyu, you know how hot he can be..."_

_'Heh, I'll give you that one, he's a prize catch Kit, don't forget that.'_

_"Yeah, I know..."_

Naruto and Kyuubi's internal conversation ended while Kiba was still shoulder hugging him, his goofy grin still apparent. Naruto rolled his eyes and decided to play along with Kiba's view on his response.

"O-Ok Kib, thanks for understanding..."

"Hehe no problem Nar, one day you'll be super sexy like me!"

Naruto once again felt like headbutting him, but accepted that Kiba's gullible and goofy nature was one of his best traits, which he didn't want to get rid of any time soon. Naruto began to walk again and placed his arm on Kiba's waist, both of them now walking towards Konoha, which was not too far away.

"Hey, Nar."

"Yeah Kib- umm!"

Kiba's lips smacked up against Naruto's, taking the blonde by complete surprise. It lasted only a few seconds, but that same wonderful spark shot through each-others bodies. It wasn't sexual, nor very passionate, but was one full of affection and, in a sense, acceptance. The brunette pulled back almost as quickly and looked forward to the road with a smile, with no further words being spoken. The blonde gazed at Kiba's smile and saw a quiet determination, almost that things would all work out. Naruto looked forward too, feeling Kiba's arm tighten around his shoulder, as they made their way Konoha.

15 minutes later the teen couple were approaching Konoha's main gate, both of them moving away from each-other slightly before the public could see. They both felt frustrated to do so, but Tsunade ordered them to refrain from coming out as a couple until after the crisis was over, as she somehow felt it could be used against them otherwise. Naruto was especially angry at this order, but he knew deep-down that Tsunade has a reason for everything, and it had to be a good one.

Both boys entered the village and, yet again, decided to unleash their boyish rivalry as they challenged each-other to a race to the top of the Hokage tower steps, just like the other day. They both stood at the bottom of the steps, and counted down to the start of the race.

3...

2...

1...

"GO!" "GO!"

Both teens sprinted up the steps as best they could, trying not to trip up on their own feet. They were over half-way, but Naruto wanted to beat Kiba this time around, so he applied chakra to his feet and sped up to the top of the stairs, while Kiba lagged behind, for a very good reason.

*BAM*

Naruto was yet again sent flying backwards after going past the top of the stairs, slowly sitting back up and rubbing his head after the collision. He was ready to shout at whoever caused the collision, without looking up as he suspected it was the same culprit as before.

"Damn it Baa-chan! Since when did you become flat-chested?! An-! Oh... hehe uhh h-hi S-Sakura?"

"NARUTOOO!"

After a newly found black eye for the blonde, Naruto and Kiba followed Sakura to the Tower entrance, both boys wondering why she was there as well, as they didn't get the chance to ask while her rage was in effect.

"So Sakura, why are you going to see Tsunade then?" Kiba spoke first, knowing Naruto wouldn't dare try to piss her off any more then he's done already.

"D-Don't you know?" Sakura's voice became slightly timid as she realized that the news probably wasn't broken to Kiba or Naruto yet.

"About what? Did something happen Sakura?!" Naruto now got involved, knowing that something was up from Sakura's voice.

"W-Well yes but... let's just get inside first, Lady Tsunade will be briefing you two on it as well I'd imagine."

Naruto was close to demanding answers from Sakura, but he could tell that she was clearly effected by something, so he didn't want to force her to speak if she didn't feel comfortable doing so.

The teens approached the Office door, and Sakura knocked a few times to gain Tsunade's attention.

"Enter!"

The door creaked open and the trio walked into the office, with Tsunade standing by the moved Bookshelf, clearly having waited for them to arrive.

"Good, now that makes everyone, go take your seats in the briefing room."

"W-Wait! Baa-chan, what the hell's going on?" Naruto walked up to her and looked her in the eye with desperation for answers. She looked back at him with slight sorrow, but knew that of all people she couldn't afford to be crestfallen.

"It's concerning the Manipulator, you'll be given the full situation when you quit yapping and get your ass in a seat!"

Naruto looked down to the floor, knowing now that something really must of happened, especially since she didn't tell him then and there. He walked back to the Meeting Room entrance, but before he could enter, Kiba had grabbed his hand, offering support. Naruto smiled almost sadly to him as they both entered the Meeting Room, taking the seats at the top of the table to the left again.

Naruto saw that Neji, Tenten, Sakura and Sai were all seated by the table as well; all of them looking somber, further hinting at a serious situation. His scanning was interrupted however by Tsunade taking her seat at the head of the table, which signaled the start of the Rescue Briefing.

* * *

A/N: So there it was, the first chapter after my hiatus! :) The next chapter will be up soon, that I can assure you :3 Leave a review if you could, as they are always appreciated. Til next time! :D


	11. Chapter 11: The Broken Pendant

A/N: Hello again my lovely readers! I'd like to thank those of you who welcomed me back, it made me feel happy ^.^ But enough about me, here's the next chapter for y'all! ugh I imagined saying that in my London accent... let's just say it didn't sound too good lol... Anyway I hope you enjoy the read and let me know what you think, as long as it's not too flamey ^_^

* * *

The meeting room was already rife with a serious atmosphere, thick enough to make it almost unbearable, and the briefing hadn't even begun. Sakura, Sai, Tenten, Shino, Naruto and Kiba were all now seated around the rectangular-shaped table, some fidgeting in their seats while others worse a grim expression, already anxious to see what the briefing will mean for their fates. Shizune was standing by Tsunade's right side, while an ANBU Black Op was on her left, acting as a bodyguard in case the meeting was interrupted by someone, namely The Manipulator.

Tsunade's eyes were squinted as she scanned around the room to see if everything was in order before starting the meeting. She could see that most of the teens were anxious for it to begin, but she knew better then to rush such a crucial event.

While Tsunade was mentally preparing for the meeting, Kiba finally realized that Tenten, of all people, was sitting in front of him on the other side of the table. He instantly remembered the semi-sexual dream he had of her, but kept telling himself:

_It was just a dream Kiba, just a dream... There's no way she's The Manipulator! How the hell could she just sit there if she was?! _

Kiba reassured himself that it couldn't be Tenten, but kept an eye on her nonetheless, mainly to make sure she couldn't somehow molest him like in the dream. His thoughts were interrupted by Tsunade looking ready to begin the meeting.

"Welcome, everyone. Most of you already know why you were summoned here, and I hope you prepared for it accordingly. However some of you don't know, so I'll explain the purpose of this meeting in the simplest way."

Naruto and Kiba were now almost ready to burst with the anxiety of it all, as they were now completely focused on Tsunade to learn of what happened. They saw Tsunade look over to them with, what looked like, pity. It was now clear that this was gonna have a bad effect on the two boys, but they've had enough time to prepare for it now, or so they thought. Tsunade sighed slightly, and then took a deep breath to announce the news.

...

"Hinata Hyuga was Kidnapped by The Manipulator."

...

Naruto looked down to the table. He heard her words loud and clear, but said nothing.

"W-What?" Kiba looked shocked, his voice breaking.

Tsunade was surprised by Naruto's reaction, as she'd normally expect him to be the one yelling and demanding to go look for her ASAP. She put that thought aside though as she progressed with the briefing.

"I know this has come as a shock, to all of us, but it's crucial that we remain calm and vigilant in the face of such adversity. This meeting is for that purpose, as now is the chance for us all to consolidate what knowledge we have and come up with a plan to bring Hinata back."

"But what knowledge do we have?" Shino spoke out. "We have nothing to go on. How can we find whoever kidnapped her, when we don't even know who we're dealing with?"

Tsunade could see that Shino was cynical of the productiveness of the meeting, which couldn't be blamed as it was his best-friend who were kidnapped. She knew however that he needed to be positive for it to be productive, so she then thought about trying to persuade him about the Meetings potential effectiveness.

"Shino, I know things may seem grim, but why would I call a Meeting if we had truly nothing to go on? Although yes, the Manipulator is elusive, we have been working hard to find out as much we can. For example, Naruto and Kiba may have just brought back something worth looking into, am I correct boys?"

Naruto and Kiba were surprised by Tsunade's psychic assumption, as the pendant and data-book just proved her point. Shino's cynical expression was now almost lifted, becoming more hopeful that they actually _do_ have something to go on.

"Y-Yeah, I think we may have something Lady Tsunade." Kiba replied, feeling the data-book in his hands as confirmation.

"You see Shino? Not only that, but I've already spoke with Shizune about where Hinata could be, which I'll discuss shortly with you all."

There was an instant relief of pressure in the room, as hearing the Hokage say that made the hope for finding Hinata more realistic then before.

"Now that we got the introduction out of the way with, it's time we get on with bringing forward _any _clues, evidence or ideas concerning The Manipulator. I'll get things rolling first, as I'll tell you all what me and Shizune discussed earlier."

Tsunade pulled a crumpled note out from the stack of papers in front of her, which she then placed closer to the center of the table for all to see.

"This note was what Shizune found earlier this morning while on a scouting run by the north-east border of the Fire Country. It was what confirmed Hinata's disappearance, as she was also on a mission in that territory. We believe it was written by The Manipulator directly."

Slight gasps were heard by Tenten in particular, who was still completely oblivious to Kiba's spying eye.

Sakura however didn't understand how Shizune found the note in such a vast territory. "Where exactly did you find it though Shizune? I mean it sounds pretty far-fetched for it to be found in such a huge area by chance!"

"My mission took place through a series of roads and villages, so I had to pass through populated areas. It seems as if The Manipulator, or one of his subordinates, had figured out where I was heading based on my overall route, so they delivered it to me by a Messenger Bird, just like any other note or letter."

"B-But still, how could they have known where you were in the first place? I thought missions were confidential!"

Tenten answered for Shizune, "It seems that The Manipulator must have a lot of connections for him to track Shizune down, and that probably includes spies..."

"Tenten is probably right. The Manipulator has shown incredible influence already, such as by almost destroying Amatores with a mercenary army within less then a day of knowing Naruto and Kiba would be there..." Tsunade confirmed Tenten's point.

"I already discussed this with you all, bar Naruto and Kiba before the meeting, so I'll repeat again what the Note had described. It says that we have 48 hours to find Hinata before The Manipulator, most probably, kills her. It's rather cliche, but dire nonetheless. Depending on how this meeting progresses, we will either go this evening or tomorrow morning at dawn after another meeting."

"Well we should obviously go this evening Baa-chan! We don't have any time to lose!" Naruto began his almost normal bout of shouting at her which, in a roundabout way, made her feel better to see he was now more energetic then before. However, her anger vein still managed to flare, as his impatience was also the most annoying trait to her.

"Silly Naru! The Hokage is trying to say that, if the meeting is very productive, we might go later. But if not, she'll need more time to strategize and try to acquire more evidence over night. You really are dense, aren't you little fox?" Sai decided to pitch in, his patronizing smile putting Naruto on the verge of a Kyuubi rampage.

"Why you-"

"That's enough for now guys, we need to give more of what we know!" Tenten tried to break up the forming argument.

"You're right, but what exactly do _you _have that we can use?" Kiba replied harshly to Tenten, not thinking she was of any use in the meeting. She looked taken back by Kiba's passive aggression, but knew that by retaliating it would just be wasting time, putting Hinata in more danger.

"Actually, I have the list of Recent Rogue & Missing Ninja that Lady Tsunade ordered me to find." Tenten said as she retrieved a plastic wallet with paper documents inside of it; the List of rogue ninja she just mentioned. Kiba was honestly surprised she had something to bring, so he admitted internal defeat and put his paranoia to one side, for now.

"You do Tenten? What were your findings?" Tsunade sat forward, now intrigued to hear the report.

"I found out that there have been at least 3 missing or rogue ninja within the last week. They are Aaroniero Mayuri, Anko Mitarashi and... Ino Yamanaka."

"Ino's gone missing?!" Sakura gasped. The others looked just as shocked, especially for Naruto, as on the night that he was attacked he suspected it could of been her, which puts her down now as a real suspect.

"According to this? Yeah, for over a week now..." Tenten replied gloomily.

"Well if Tentens report is accurate, and Naruto's description of his attacker that night is taken into account, Ino is now definitely a suspect at this point." Tsunade spoke almost rhetorically to herself, trying to fit some of the pieces together in her head. She knew, however, that finding out who The Manipulator was were a secondary objective of the meeting, and actually finding out _Where_ he/she is with Hinata is the primary objective. But since most of the clues are aimed at _who _he/she is, she thought it best to try and figure out their identity before anything else.

"Despite the primary aim of this meeting in finding out where Hinata is being held, I feel we should first figure out who we think The Manipulator is, so we can predict where they might be hiding Hinata." Sai commented after seeing Tsunade in deep thought, almost taking the words from her mouth.

He continued, "I have a data-book to see which Shinobi among the three are most capable in-"

"I appreciate you being proactive, Sai, but I already know of the combat and mental abilities of those three missing nin." Tsunade interrupted Sai's dialogue, which almost made Naruto laugh at seeing Sai's trump-card clue being deflated.

"Hey, baa-chan."

Naruto gained Tsunade's attention, albeit strangely, as he didn't seem to be spouting a smart-ass comment or begin shouting about going to the rescue already. Instead, he was looking down to the table in what looked like reflective thought, which Kyuubi described as something quite evolutionary when it concerned Naruto.

"What is is Naruto?" Tsunade was now interested in hearing Naruto's response, as his mannerisms hopefully meant it was something actually meaningful.

"I know this is unlikely, but was the note signed by any kind of signature we can decipher?"

_Wait, of course! It was signed with Initials! _Tsunade's mental light-bulb shone brilliantly, only just realizing that the initials in the note would obviously be a huge clue to who The Manipulator actually was. She picked up the note in-front of her again, and read the bottom of it.

_"A.M, A.K.A The Manipulator"_

_Oh crap, this just complicated things even more!_

Tsunade's internal happiness was cut short as she realized that, if this was to coincide with Tentens report, there were two possible suspects with the Initials of A.M: Aaroneiro Mayuri and Anko Mitarashi.

"You raised a good point, Naruto. But the trouble is that there are now two suspects if going by this and Tentens report, but also Ino if going by her report and your description of your attacker... Kami, this is where it will become complicated. We'll need more evidence or clues to sift these three suspects apart, as right now it could be any one of them, and that would drastically affect our rescue effort for finding Hinata."

"So there isn't any raw evidence to where she could be? I thought you said you discussed with Shizune where Hinata could be baa-chan?!"

"We did, and it's now invalid judging from our new findings just now. We thought that she could of been held inside the Village somewhere, which would of been smart for The Manipulator, as it's where we'd least expect to send a search party for obvious reasons. But since the suspects are all missing nin, and we can't detect their chakra within the village, our previous theory is now useless Naruto."

"Cha! The Manipulator's probably confused us this much on purpose, and I bet he/she disguised their-self as Ino during the night they attacked Naruto!" Sakura shouted, annoyed at the mind-games they're being subjected to.

"Sakura, I know Ino is close to you, but don't assume that it wasn't her that night Naruto got attacked. Maybe it was a disguise, but we don't know that for sure." Tenten tried to correct Sakura's bias, but understood how she must of felt, having to consider one of her best-friends as a suspect.

...

The room fell silent for the first time in well over an hour, all of the attendees, including Tsunade and Shizune, were dead silent. They all loathed this silence, as it was one of confusion; not quite knowing where to go next with the knowledge-gathering or the meeting itself.

"L-Lady Tsunade?" Kiba broke the pregnant silence.

"What is it Kiba? Do you have something we can use?"

"Well, not me, but I think Naruto does."

Tsunade looked over to Naruto who, at first, shrugged dramatically and gave a filthy look to Kiba for supposedly embarrassing him. Naruto didn't realize that he had in fact acquired a possible clue from his mission, which he forgot about during his "Mind like a sieve" moment as Kyu calls them.

"The pendant dumbass!" Kiba whacked him on the head, snapping him out of his dumb response.

"Ohh right! hehe..." Naruto gave his trademark nervous laugh of defeat as he fumbled around his trouser pocket for the broken pendant. He finally picked it out and placed it in-front of him on the table for Tsunade and the others to see. Tsunade pulled it closer to inspect it, and instantly felt a strange, almost nostalgic chakra surrounding it.

"Naruto found it on the ground after we killed the bandits at Amatores, he said he felt the same chakra on the pendant that was on me after I was possessed." Kiba explained what they knew of the possible clue, while Tsunade became more and more interested in it.

_Hmm this is interesting, no doubt about that... I feel it's more useful then it first appears. Sai should know how to find out more about this._

"Sai, I'd like you to inspect this amulet and see if it holds any importance." Tsunade handed the pendant over to the artist-nin. His eyes were now scanning the pendant, while turning it on its side and back to front, trying to get a feel for it.

_My my, this pendant really is quite special... Kami knows how Silly Naru and Growling Mutt could have found this!_

Sai tried his best to see if it held any secrets from him, but even his detective skills in the Foundation didn't help much here. He somehow felt though that it _was still _hiding something, but he didn't know how to unlock it.

"I'm sorry Lady Hokage, it would seem that I can't figure out much about this strange pendant." Sai passed it back to Tsunade.

"But" he continued, "I feel there's more to it then meets the eye!"

"I thought as much... Naruto, is there _anything _else, at all, that you know about this pendant? Both me and Sai know that this must be hiding something, so is there not anything else you can help us go on for now?"

"Give it here granny, let ME take a look at it!"

"Wait, are you saying you _didn't_ look at it before Nar?" Kiba turned to Naruto.

"W-Well of course I did!... kinda..."

"My Nar really is a dense baka!"

Naruto's eye twitched, but decided to just ignore the snickering dog-nin. He looked at the pendant and, as far as the eye could tell, it was a pretty standard item, besides how old it looked. But he and the others could sense it was special perhaps on the inside, so he asked Kyuubi so see if she knew anything.

_"Oi Kyuubi, you know we think there's something up with this pendant thing, what can you tell from it?"_

_'I can't tell much unless you let me see if for myself dobe! Let me take control for a sec.'_

_"Eh fine, but don't go killing Sai just 'cause you got the chance!'_

_'Oh don't worry Kit, i'll save that for another day...'_

Naruto let Kyuubi out of the seal and she took control of Naruto's body. Naruto's eyes were now crimson red, which alarmed most of the other people in room. They calmed after a few seconds as they realized this wasn't exactly a killing rampage by Kyuubi, but rather her trying to help them figure out the supposed secret of this pendant.

"Hmm..." Naruto's voice sounded rough and almost feral, thanks to Kyuubi's control. Tenten was close to fainting from it all, never before seeing Naruto like this face-to-face.

"Don't be such a drama queen Tenten." Kiba scowled at her.

"S-Sorry It's just that-"

"Wait a sec."

Naruto, or Kyuubi rather, caught the groups attention as the pendant started to glow slightly green. The green energy looked like Chakra, which Kyuubi instantly recognized as being like The Manipulators.

"Is that?-" Sakura caught on too that it was similar to the chakra found in The Manipulators poison.

Before Sakura could finish her sentence, something was wrong. Naruto's hand holding the pendant began to shake, now spreading to his arm.

"N-Naruto?!"

"N-Nar, Are you ok?!"

"Shizune! Get hnm th-..."

_"W-What the fuck is happening?! Their voices make no damn sense anymore, and why are they moving away? What's going on Kyuubi?!"_

Before Naruto could hear Kyuubi's explanation, he began to fade out of his own consciousness. He could still barely hear voices, but now couldn't even make out who they were or what they said. Strange colors assaulted his peripheral vision, then finally fell to darkness.

* * *

_A woman, no older then 25 perhaps, was walking through a strangely familiar setting. A huge corridor that stretched out for what seemed like an eternity._

_Her appearance was distorted somehow, like shown on a damaged film, but far more supernatural. The colors were vaguely blurred, her hair an indescribable shade of brown or purple. She wore what looked like an over-coat, but the colors were too distorted to make out what they were._

_A giant door opened, and two silhouettes were all that was visible. One, the woman who stood her ground by the door, and the other, a figure swathed in dark._

_Fire raged, covering the entire room. Kunai were thrown, and punches were too. _

_The woman was now in chains in another room, which also looked eerily familiar. _

_"W-Why him?!" _

_Her voice broke through the silence, but nothing was heard after. _

_Green energy flowed towards her; her form becoming even more distorted. She was struggling as much as she could against the dark figure in-front of her, but it was in vain. The green light reached her, and her hair now turned to a lighter, almost white shade._

_Her struggling stopped, she was now released from the chains and kneeled before the dark-figure; looking like a completely different woman. She stood back up, and exited the chamber._

* * *

_"Naruto."_

_Who's voice is that? And what the hell's happening? It's so dark I can't even tell where I am..._

_"Naruto!"_

_I... see something now, is that?-"_

"WAKE THE HELL UP NARUTO!"

Naruto shot up from what felt like the floor, seeing 7 people crowded around him like hawks. His vision began to return as he made out Sakura's large forehead first of all, her being the one who shouted at him. He then realized he was still in the Meeting room, and that he really was lying on the floor.

"Are you Ok Nar?! We thought you had a seizure or something!" Kiba hugged Naruto tight, hard enough to almost choke off his air supply.

"Y-Yeah I'm fine... but what happened, baa-chan?"

"You completely passed out after violently shaking. Kiba was right, we think you were having a seizure, but you seem to look fine right now..." Tsunade looked confused to why Naruto was already looking stable, but thought back the the beginning of it to see if she could figure out why.

_This is definitely odd, as most Shinobi who have seizures tend to have a fluctuating chakra network after, but his seems completely normal... wait, could it have not been a seizure?_

Tsunade, being titled the greatest medical nin in the world, was almost always 100% correct with every diagnosis she made. She was bewildered to what else could of caused Naruto's loss of consciousness, as it showed all the symptoms of a seizure with the violent shaking etc. But then she remembered seeing green chakra emanate from the pendant just before it all started.

_Wait, could it be?..._

"Naruto, did anything strange occur while you was passed out?"

"Y-Yeah..." Naruto looked vacant, almost too much in his own thoughts to cater for Tsunade's questions.

"Well what happened? Did you see a vision or hear something of some sorts?!" Tsunade began to interrogate him, feeling that this was perhaps the jackpot secret of that pendant.

"Y-Yeah..."

"Tell us what you saw Naruto! This is crucial!" Tsunade was now shouting, desperate for Naruto to tell them the possible breakthrough.

"There was a-uh..."

"A what? You have to come out with it Naruto or t-

_'Why is she getting quieter? Is it just her or is my hearing getting worse? W-What's going on Kyu?'_

_'K-Kyu?'_

_'Kyuubi?!...'_

Naruto couldn't hear anything now, and his balance was also starting to deteriorate. He fell back onto the floor and saw once again the others gasp and flock around him, just before his vision was about to fade. He couldn't even hear Kyuubi anymore, which worried him the most. The last thing he saw was Kiba shaking him, with what looked like tears falling down onto the blonde's whiskered cheek. Now there was just darkness, but this time there wouldn't be any more visions like before, but only uncertainty.

* * *

**A/N:** Well there you have it folks! I bet you didn't expect the next chapter to be out this soon did you? Hehe let me know what you thought of the chapter, and what you think is gonna happen next! This story is twisty at its core, so expect to see more Drama before any kind of happy ending for the boys... if there will even _be_ one... ;3 Til next time!


End file.
